The former head of the Security Service of Ukraine Valentyn Nalyvaichenko resigned from the post as the chairman of Our Ukraine’s political council and dropped his membership in the party.
“I resign from my position as chairman of Our Ukraine’s Political Council and drop my membership in the party. I am doing this because the decision on Our Ukraine’s participation in the forthcoming election as part of the united opposition is being fatally delayed,” explains Nalyvaichenko in his statement.
According to him, the party’s independent participation in the election is contrary to his political standpoint, which he had been defending ever since he joined Our Ukraine.
For Lilia Hryhorovych, member of the bloc Our Ukraine-People’s Self-Defense, Nalyvaichenko’s resignation from Our Ukraine came as no shock or sensation. “Nalyvaichenko has had his own standpoint, he saw Our Ukraine among the united opposition and believed that candidates in simple-majority constituencies should be agreed upon. This standpoint has led him to resignation,” notes Hryhorovych. She also reminded that Our Ukraine’s popularity rating is very modest, around 0.5 percent: “It is the responsibility of the party’s leaders and members, me included. Why? Apparently, we have long been making political mistakes.”
Nalyvaichenko himself told The Day that he was going to run for the Verkhovna Rada in Zboriv constituency. “But the single opposition candidate should be chosen by popular vote, in the primaries,” emphasized he. Nalyvaichenko is also convinced that the majority of Our Ukraine’s members will support the policy of consolidation with other opposition forces. “They must not become hostage to a stalemate within the party. The future belongs to a united patriotic movement. It is time to give up narrow party ambitions for the sake of creating this movement.”
