Q&A with Sergiy Tigipko.
Sergiy Tigipko surprised many with his third-place finish in the first round of presidential elections. The former central banker then played it coy, refusing to support either Victor Yanukovych or Yulia Tymoshenko in the runoff, while saying he would be prepared to work as prime minister for either. As negotiations to form a coalition continue, Tigipko told the Kyiv Post on Feb. 19 he doubted he would head any new government.
KP: Are you still sure that you will be prime minister?
ST: I never said I was sure I’d be prime minister. I said I want to and if there is an offer I will accept it. And that remains my position. But if you ask whether I believe that I will become prime minister, I would answer that I don’t believe it. Who needs a strong player? They are afraid.
I had many meetings with Yanukovych, but I wouldn’t call them negotiations, because he didn’t want to talk seriously about anything before actually getting into power, after the inauguration. And this situation is OK for me.
Many parliament members have reached out to me, including from [the Our Ukraine grouping], but I don’t want to start any coalition negotiations. I think that the initiative should come from the President. Why? Because … otherwise, we will again have permanent confrontation between the president and the prime minister.
KP: What are you doing now, if you are not having any negotiations?
ST: Before our meeting I was talking about the construction of a party. … The construction of a party is a very serious project. We want to approach building the party as a comprehensive project.
And there is a very important direction for us –local elections. Regardless of the fact that they were canceled, and it is still not clear when they will be conducted, it is impossible to postpone them for a very long time. At the end of May the authority of many local councils will expire and all their decisions will be litigated and all decisions will not be legitimate.
KP: You have about 13 percent public support now, but you still have to retain that support. If elections are delayed, how will you manage that?
ST: I understand that. I will not go off the television screen. There are many things that can be commented on and a lot to talk about. That is why I remain a public person. And if somebody thinks that they will eliminate Tigipko’s influence by cancelling elections, they need to understand that they will only worsen the situation because of one simple reason: if they postpone election for half a year, they’ll get 50 percent more of negative moods. In such a situation I will only win.
KP: Why do you think lawmakers recently delayed elections to regional legislatures?
ST: They are scared. Yes, they are afraid of reforming authorities in the regions. They are afraid that new people will come in, that new majors may come in, and they are afraid to lose the power of administrative resources, on the one hand. On the other, there is an understanding that if the administrative resources are retained, it will be easier to influence the outcome of local elections. But you can see how all this ends: courts etc. That is why I talk about an ideological party, about a new party that will inspire people with ideas.
Kyiv Post staff writers Olga Gnativ and James Marsoncan be reached at [email protected] and [email protected].
