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Opinion
July 28, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 22
growing stronger, relations with the president be- came colder. Saakashvili didn’t stop himself from publicly criticising both Poroshenko’s decisions, and most importantly, the lack of fast and bold reforms in Ukraine. Finally, after a year in office, Saakashvili resigned from the governor post, pub- licly accusing Poroshenko of sabotaging reforms.
After his resignation, Saakashvili actively engaged in political life, starting his own anti-corruption movement in Ukraine. Back then, there were many talks about the possible creation of a new political party, led by Saakashvili and uniting young post-Maidan politicians. This plan never worked out, reportedly because of the differences in views on whether this party should be a party of a leader or a party of a programme. Three politi- cal forces have emerged from that circle, which for now have decided to operate separately, but which would clearly join in a coalition in future elections.
Ever since his arrival in Ukraine, Saakashvili has been perceived as a possible game-changer in Ukrainian politics. There is a great deal of pop- ulism in his speeches, yet he nevertheless knows how to engage the public and create supporters. According to all political polls in recent years, Saakashvili was sure to make it to the parliament, regardless of what political party he was in (he had around 10% support as a governor and but was not willing to take part in elections). More re- cently the level of support has declined somewhat but he remains one of those politicians who would be key people in the upcoming elections.
So far there has been no official reaction from the president, even the sharp tongued Saakashvili has waited a while before reacting to the news. Saakashvili has accused Poroshenko of making shadow deals with pro-Russian businessman
and former prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili and called the decision regarding his citizenship a political vendetta. He also says that Poroshenko acted like this out of the fear that opposition will start “anti oligarchic pact” protests this autumn. Many Ukrainian politicians and public figures have
also commented and harshly criticised the presi- dent. Poroshenko is being called short-sighted and weak, but I believe it’s the opposite. This decision is not about Saakashvili, but about Po- roshenko’s ambition to win a second term in the 2019 presidential elections.
Saakashvili’s case shouldn’t be analysed in isola- tion. It fits perfectly into the chain of events that suggest Poroshenko has started preparing for elections two years before they happen.
Many commentators agree that the symbolic launch of his re-election campaign started with
a recent and controversial decision to ban Rus- sian social media in Ukraine. It was followed by a prolonged campaign to discredit the mayor of Lviv, Andriy Sadovyi, who is also a leader of the Samo- pomich political party.
Sadovyi, unsurprisingly, has very good relations with Saakashvili; there has been speculation on the possibility of Sadovyi and Saakashvili joining forces in parliamentary elections. The hit was very precise, the topic was embarrassing: garbage. Lviv’s problems became a topic on the national news, picturing Lviv as a city of chaos drowning in garbage. The story was so hyped it became im- possible to decide whether the news about trucks with Lviv garbage being chased in all the regions of Ukraine were true, or staged. The idea behind this black PR campaign was very clear: to destroy Sadovyi’s image as the most successful mayor in Ukraine and turn him into a butt for jokes.
Then a few days ago it was announced that the State National Corruption Prevention Agency (NABU) will look into the affairs of opposition firebrand Yulia Tymoshenko, leader of the Batjlivs- hchyna (Fatherland) party. This news was followed by an announcement from the PGO that it had launched a criminal investigation into Batjkivsh- chyna leaders over suspected illicit financing of the party.
These early birds suggest that the next target in the discrediting game will be former prime min-