United Center - New Ukrainian Political Party
A new political party is taking shape in Ukraine. "United Center" (Yedyniy Tsentr) is being built by Presidential Secretariat Chief Viktor Baloha as a party intending to introduce new standards to local politics.
The party has scheduled its first convention on July 12, at which time it is expected to name its leader. Most experts believe current Verkhovna Rada Speaker Arseniy Yatsenyuk will be named head of the party.
Don't be surprised to see the new party work as part of a larger coalition. Talks are currently being held with Vladyslav Kaskiv of PORA, Yuri Kamazin of the Motherland Defenders Party and Yuri Kostenko of the Ukrainian People's Party. The Ukrainian People's Party and other smaller groups have already given unofficial consent to form a union with United Center.
Several oblast governors including Victor Bondar (Dnipropetrovsk), Vira Ulyanchenko (Kyiv), Mykola Kmit (Lviv) and Oleksander Dombrovsky (Vinnytsya) may also join United Center.
Further, people are wondering if Igor Rybakov from the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and Yuri But from Our Ukraine People's Self Defense Bloc will join the new party. They are the two Parliament members that left the democratic coalition last Friday, effectively killing the "Orange" majority.
It will be most interesting to see not only how this new party develops, but if President Viktor Yushchenko decides to walk away from Our Ukraine People's Self Defense Bloc to join forces with United Center. The new party has already been described as a pro-Presidential group. With Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko being hounded by the country's economic troubles, this could be an opportunity for Yushchenko to get a fresh start and bolster his standing prior to the 2009 Presidential election.
The party has scheduled its first convention on July 12, at which time it is expected to name its leader. Most experts believe current Verkhovna Rada Speaker Arseniy Yatsenyuk will be named head of the party.
Don't be surprised to see the new party work as part of a larger coalition. Talks are currently being held with Vladyslav Kaskiv of PORA, Yuri Kamazin of the Motherland Defenders Party and Yuri Kostenko of the Ukrainian People's Party. The Ukrainian People's Party and other smaller groups have already given unofficial consent to form a union with United Center.
Several oblast governors including Victor Bondar (Dnipropetrovsk), Vira Ulyanchenko (Kyiv), Mykola Kmit (Lviv) and Oleksander Dombrovsky (Vinnytsya) may also join United Center.
Further, people are wondering if Igor Rybakov from the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and Yuri But from Our Ukraine People's Self Defense Bloc will join the new party. They are the two Parliament members that left the democratic coalition last Friday, effectively killing the "Orange" majority.
It will be most interesting to see not only how this new party develops, but if President Viktor Yushchenko decides to walk away from Our Ukraine People's Self Defense Bloc to join forces with United Center. The new party has already been described as a pro-Presidential group. With Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko being hounded by the country's economic troubles, this could be an opportunity for Yushchenko to get a fresh start and bolster his standing prior to the 2009 Presidential election.
