You're reading: Lifestyle Blog: Svoboda’s big car and small penis

With Verkhovna Rada on holiday until Sept. 3, the Ukrainian political stage can be a boring scene to watch. But at least one player is busy spicing it up.

Ukrainian
oppositional party Svoboda, known for its nationalistic views and strong
opposition to authorities and oligarchs, has recently suffered two scandals.

During
his interview on Radio Svoboda on Aug. 26, party leader Oleh Tyahnybok faced
accusations of driving an expensive Toyota Sequoia car (valued at $95,000 in Ukraine). In
response, the politician went mouthy. While the accusation itself could hardly change
Tyahnybok’s reputation, his response was unexpectedly cocky and got even more
attention than his vehicle preferences.

“Friends,
this is simply ridiculous. I’m the head of a big political party, which has 37
deputies in parliament, and which has decided that the head must drive a safe
car, that the head must drive a car that will allow him to travel the whole
Ukraine,” Tyahnybok said in defense of his pricey wheels.

The
Japanese car producer must be happy to find out that its SUV is the only
vehicle that manages to move through the savage land of Ukraine – according to
Tyahnybok, at least.

Ukrainian
Facebook users took the joke further and made memes with Tyahnybok saying “The
party told me to drive Toyota. If it tells me to move to Mezhyhirya, I will,”
referring to President Viktor Yanukovych’s luxurious residence in Kyiv Oblast.

But Tyahnybok didn’t stop at blaming the party for bestowing
him with luxury. He boasted of his career and even his family wealth.

“I don’t even want to tell you and compare with other
politicians, but I’m also not a poor man,” he said to Radio Svoboda’s host.
“Excuse me, but I’m 45. So you think that in 45 years, being parliament member
for more than 10 years… And a deputy has a rather good salary… Moreover, I
don’t come from a poor family, but from a rather wealthy family…”

Tyahnybok went on and revealed how the car was
actually provided by his fellow Svoboda member.

“And one of our party members said ‘I have the car, I
can give it for the party’s head to use.’ Is it illegal? Is it bad? So, Ihor
Miroshnichenko, a successful businessman, provided me this car,” said
Tyahnybok.

Tyahnybok’s cocky and blurry speech topped the news
headlines on Aug. 27.

Ironically, it was preceded by a spicier
Svoboda-related scandal. Last week, a photo of a 60-year old Svoboda
parliamentarian Svyatoslav Khanenko posing naked was published online.

A photo allegedly shows Svoboda deputy Svyatoslav Khanenko in his office in Verkhovna Rada.

The photo was allegedly taken in Khanenko’s office in
Verkhovna Rada. The deputy evaded any public comments on the issue. Still, the
photo was republished by numerous news outlets, and social media users gladly
joked about the humble size of the deputy’s private parts.

Maybe Svoboda can work it all into an election pitch
some day with some slogan such as: “Vote Svoboda, the party with big cars and
small…” Well, you get the idea.