Yatseniuk: If Tiahnybok reaches second round of presidential election in 2015, he will beat Yanukovych
No matter what opposition representative reaches the second round of the presidential election in 2015, if he has the support of all three opposition parties, he will beat incumbent Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, the leader of the Batkivschyna faction in parliament, Arseniy Yatseniuk, has said.
While commenting on the suggestion of experts that pro-government forces are currently working out a scenario under which they will help Svoboda Party leader Oleh Tiahnybok reach the second round of the election, as he is the only candidate whom Yanukovych can beat, Yatseniuk said: "I heard about these scenarios, but I don't believe in them. Of course, there could be a change in the electoral mood, and Oleh [Tiahnybok] win through to the second round, but in this case he will beat Yanukovych. Then all the plans will collapse," he said in an interview with the Korrespondent magazine, which was published on Monday.
He also suggested that the presidential election in 2015 might not be held at all.
"There is a question whether this presidential election will take place, because it could turn into the appointment of the president under the guise of his election, as in Russia and Belarus. This is why, I'm against wrapping up the dialog with our European partners," Yatseniuk said.
He said that "the opposition will be effective only if it works together."
"And it's important to understand this principle works in all directions. Perfect evidence of this is the parliamentary campaign in 2012. The opposition won only where it was united. And we also need to move this to the year 2015. The same concerns the mayor of Kyiv: Its election will be a certain checkpoint before the presidential election," Yatseniuk said.