You're reading: Poll: Cash handouts and language law fail to boost president’s party

President Viktor Yanukovych’s Party of Region is languishing in polls ahead of October’s parliamentary elections, despite a round of social spending hikes and a populist Russian-language bill being pushed through parliament.

Support for
the Party of Regions remained flat at 27.6 percent among likely
voters in a survey conducted in the first week of June by the
Democratic Initiatives Foundation and the Razumkov Center. The party
had hoped to boost its rating by increasing pensions and pushing
through a minority languages law that could increase the use of
Russian in official contexts.

But the polls
have not given the expected bounce.

“Expectations
that language law will have influence [on the support for the Party
of Regions] is somewhat exaggerated,” said Mykhaylo Mishchenko, a
sociologist at the Razumkov Centre. “The effect of social spending
ahead of elections weakens the possibility to electorally capitalize
on it as people are well aware that it is often used as a political
tool to boost electoral support and do not believe in sincerity of
such efforts [to improve social justice].”

The survey
also shows that the issue of expanding the possibility of using
Russian is not considered an important issue. Only 4 percent of those
surveyed listed it as an important issue. The main priorities found
were the economy and corruption – two areas where the performance
of the government has been heavily criticized.

The
opposition, which draws much of its support in Ukrainian-speaking
western and central regions, has failed to capitalize on the
government’s flagging popularity.

Jailed
ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s Fatherland Party has support
from 25.6 percent of likely voters. Her party has joined forces with
erstwhile rival Arseniy Yatseniuk’s Front of Changes party ahead of
the ballot.

Another
opposition party, UDAR led by heavyweight boxing champion Vitali
Klitschko, stands to muster nearly 10 percent of votes cast.

The poll
suggests the Party of Regions could lose its control of parliament
along with its allies in the Communist Party, which showed 7.1
percent support. They will rely on attracting support from lawmakers
elected in single-mandate districts, who will make up half of
parliament’s 450 seats.

The
survey marked the rise of a new political challenger in Natalia
Korolevska, a former ally of Tymoshenko who now heads the Forward
Ukraine party. She showed 4.6 percent support, which has tripled
since the start of the year, after a huge advertising and publicity
campaign. Critics say she enjoys support from the authorities. She is
frequently interviewed on the state-run First Channel, despite her
relatively low rating.

The new poll
also suggests that support for another opposition party, the
right-wing Svoboda, has fluctuated between 3-4 percent, consistently
short of the 5 percent threshold needed to get representation in
parliament through the party list contest.

Kyiv
Post staff writer Yuriy Onyshkiv can be reached at
[email protected].