You're reading: Polls show Communist Party gaining in popularity

With 34 days remaining before the nation votes in a new batch of 450 lawmakers, polls show that Ukraine’s Communist Party is approaching double-digit popularity, the first time since the early 2000s when it was a powerful political force.

Support for the Communists has gone from virtually
extinct (2.3 percent backing in March 2010, according to think tank Razumkov
Center) to almost 10 percent today. If the support translates into votes, the
Communists could chip away the ruling Party of Regions potential electorate and
scoop up disenchanted voters.

An average taken of four recent
nationwide surveys — Razumkov Center, Kyiv International Institute of
Sociology, Research and Branding and a poll conducted jointly by GfK Ukraine
with three other polling firms — show that the Communists enjoy 10.4 percent
support among potential voters when factoring in the standard 2.2 sample error.

“Some voters who traditionally lean toward
the Party of Regions are opting for the Communist Party,” said Mykhailo
Mishchenko, deputy head of Razumkov’s sociology service.

Many of these supporters said Olexiy Haran, a
professor of political science at Kyiv’s Mohyla Academy, are former Communist
voters to begin with who over time have altered their preferences when newer, more
appealing parties emerged. But today, Haran said, they feel deceived by the
Party of Regions.

“They’re part of a common vessel,” said
Haran.

So with the Party of Regions in decline,
mostly in the east where its base lies, some voters are moving in the opposite
direction, toward the Communists.

“It’s a feature of their post-Soviet
mentality, there isn’t much choice: Natalia Korolevska’s Ukraine Forward party
is perceived as too modern for their taste, while Sergiy Tigipko’s Strong
Ukraine party has disintegrated,” Haran told the Kyiv Post.

Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko refused
to be interviewed and referred the Kyiv Post to the party’s website for
information. Separately, Oleksandr Holub, another high-ranking party member, cancelled
a Sept. 24 interview he promised to give to the Kyiv Post.

A demographic breakdown of Communist voters
shows that 24 percent are aged 50 or over, while 26 percent either have or didn’t
complete a secondary education, Razumkov data shows.

At the core of their preferences is a
longing for their relatively comfortable life in Soviet times when society was perceived
to be more just, when salaries were steady and life was more predictable.

“Communist voters think they lived better
back then because they were younger (20 years ago) when we all felt that way,
but some indeed live worse now, such as retired people who receive paltry pensions,
so they want a part of the USSR back,” said Iryna Bekeshkina, director of
Democratic Initiatives, a Kyiv think tank.

Nostalgia aside, Communist voters favor
ideology over leaders. The sociologists with whom the Kyiv Post spoke said
voters are attracted to catchy, yet populist slogans that promise to secure
free medical care and education, higher pensions and “returning the economy
back to the people.”

“Their electorate vote for the party
campaign program, they’re abstract communist so they don’t care if (party
leader) Petro Symonenko leaves his older wife for a younger one, for example,”
said Bekeshkina.

The Communist electorate doesn’t scrutinize
or pay attention to details, said Haran, which is why some party members get
away with living lavish lifestyles yet position themselves as the opposition or
“anti-oligarchic.”

 “The point is they (communist voters) don’t
understand politics, they believe in slogans, they close their eyes – plus the Communists don’t reveal their ties with the oligarchs who finance them,” said
Haran.

Political consultant Taras Berezovets told
the Kyiv Post in an earlier interview that the communists could spend up to $25
million before the political campaign ends. He and Volodymyr Fesenko, another
political consultant, said that affluent party member and the head of Ukraine’s
Customs Service, Igor Kaletnik, is their main financial backer.

But should the Communists continue gaining
ground, they could attract more financial sponsors from people wanting a seat
in government, Haran said.

However, Haran emphasized, the Communist
Party shouldn’t be overestimated. He said they won’t return to their heyday
when they took 25 percent of the parliamentary vote in 1998 or the 20 percent
they garnered in 2002.

He said that whatever government positions
the Communists get after the parliamentary election will be appointments for
their financial backers.

“Politics today is defined mostly by
business groups, the communists won’t be decisive…they might have a share in
the parliamentary struggle but the (current) regime has enough forces to subdue
them and whatever quota they get in the next government won’t go to a true
Communist,” said Haran.

Kyiv
Post staff writer Mark Rachkevych can be reached at [email protected].