Explain Ukrainian politics to me

[ApatheticAustrian]

One permanent rule of Ukrainian politics:

Oligarch populist Yulia Timohenko is going to get a lot of votes, if she isn't in jail.

[ApatheticAustrian]

Don't want to spam this thread and distract from the awesome long-term posts, just want to add that the fragile post-1990 partisan break-up between east and west got crushed by the war.

without Donetzk, the classical pro-russia-faction or - more to the core - the pro-sovjet faction isn't able anymore to outvote the west.

Usually the trainwreck which is the current government would led to another east-ukrainian-led government but they don't have the numbers anymore and wars usually are "helping" the current leaders.

[ApatheticAustrian]

Wasn't Mikheil Saakashvili (lol) starting his own party?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_Ukrainian_parliamentary_election,_2019

look at the party called "PYX".

[ApatheticAustrian]

Tymoshenko has a good relationship with Putin and the reason she was in jail is because she gave him a too sweet deal on gas.

that was just the excuse, in fact she was ofc a political victim and her real crime was being too popular in the presidential election of 2010.

doesn't mean she isn't also corrupt and shady, like nearly everyone in ukranian politics but the Yanukovych administration was looking very hard to find any fault with her and also bent the law.

[ApatheticAustrian]

The great thing about Ukraine is, that it's a perfect prototype to explain the difference between "old-school" left and right and "modern western" left and right.

Left-wing means something different in Ukraine than even in Poland or - don't even dream of it - Germany.

Regarding economy politics:

Yushchenko was a free-marketer and a liberal reformer (more or less...for ukrainian standards) but not a populist. Which is why the east-ukranian parties could work with him better than with Yulia, who is more radical, even while she is also able to do deals with Russia.

I know this is a stereotype, but the biggest question in Ukraine isn't who is a statist or a free-marketer but.....which oligarchs and which other groups are going to profit from a deal.

That's imho also a major reason why the party of regions is dead today....Yanukovych was trying wrestle the benefits out of the hands of classical pro-party of regions oligarchs and only support a small circle around his family. You lose friends, you lose your foundation.