MP Dmytro Yarosh, the commander of the Ukrainian Volunteer Army (UVA) has called on Ukrainian nationalists to get united for the 2019 elections by nominating a single candidate for president and forming a combined list of candidates for the elections to the Verkhovna Rada.
“Under the conditions of a political war where everyone is fighting everyone, the nationalists must get united and first nominate a single candidate for president and then compile a combined list of candidates to the Verkhovna Rada. I consider the proposal by the Svoboda party to nominate [Svoboda’s deputy leader and former parliament speaker] Ruslan Koshulynsky as a single candidate from nationalist organizations to be well-reasoned and acceptable. I herewith call on the nationalists to go to the elections as a united force, expand our political front up to the right-of-center and win them for the sake of Ukraine,” Yarosh wrote in a post on Facebook on Nov. 12, mentioning he was expressing his stance not as the UVA’s commander but as a citizen and nationalist.
At the same time, he wrote that as far as he is concerned he does not lay claim to any instrument of power or office. He also hailed the decision by Svoboda’s leader Oleh Tyahnybok not to run for president.
“I herewith remain convinced that any elections in the times of war are unnecessary as they violate the foundations of the national rule of the people,” Yarosh wrote.
