Two Lytvyns are nominated in single-mandate constituencies in Zhytomyr Oblast.
Former parliament speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn is running for re-election in district 65, which includes city of Novohrad-Volynsky. His son Ivan Lytvyn, who is trying for parliament for the first time, is registered in neighboring district 66, which includes city of Malyn.
Voldymyr Lytvyn, 58, has been member of parliament since 2002 and served as parliament speaker in 2002-2006 and 2008-2012.
He is a controversial figure for many reasons. Lytvyn was among those who supported “dictator” laws on Jan.16 that restricted free speech and protests during the waning days of President Viktor Yanukovych’s administration, according to Chesno public movement. Lytvyn, while serving as chief of staff to ex-President Leonid Kuchma, was suspected — although never charged — as part of the conspiracy in the Sept. 16, 2000, murder of journalist Georigy Gongadze. Lytvyn has consistently denied any involvement, as have other suspects, including Kuchma.
In his agenda published on Central Election Commission website, Lytvyn promises to create jobs, increase pensions, improve health services and provide financial support to participants of anti-terrorist operation and their families in Zhytomyr Oblast.
There are 11 candidates registered in Lytvyn’s district where he was re-elected in 2012.
His main competitors include Viktor Honcharuk nominated from Batkivshchyna party of ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Serhiy Surov – from Hromadianska Pozytsia (Civil Position), the party of former Defense minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko.
President Petro Poroshenko’s bloc, which according to the polls has the biggest support among Ukrainians so far, hasn’t nominated anyone there.
Meanwhile, his 25-year old son Ivan Lytvyn, the founder of Future of Polissia charity fund, who’s been serving in Ukraine’s armed forces since 2014, would like to give more power to local councils, provide financial support to participants of anti-terrorist operation and their families, and improve environmental protection in Zhytomyr Oblast, according to his agenda. He is facing 31 opponents. And the competition is considered tough.
He is accused of trying to bribe voters, but hasn’t commented on the allegations yet.
“Lytvyn’s campaign office is inviting local elderly women for meeting and giving them Hr 100 ($13) for votes,” Democratic Alliance party member and member of Kyiv city council Halyna Yanchenko wrote on her Facebook page on Oct.11. She also posted two videos:
The video posted by Halyna Yanchenko shows alleged campaign office representatives of Ivan Lytvyn talking to elderly women in the city of Radomyshl in Zhytomyr Oblast about money for agitation and votes.
The video posted by Halyna Yanchenko shows elderly women in the city of Radomyshl in Zhytomyr Oblast telling about Ivan Lytvyn’s representatives giving money for votes.
Meanwhile, two criminal proceeding have been launched over the cases of vote buying by Lytvyn’s representatives in Radomyshel and the village of Vodotyyi in Zhytomyr Oblast, according to the statements published on the Interior Ministry website, which now has a seperate section dedicated to violations of the election process. Moreover, police are now checking another case of alleged vote buying by representatives of Lytvyn’s son in the village of Norytsi in Zhytomyr Oblast.
A poll conducted by Rating sociological group in October, has shown that Ivan Lytvyn and another self-nominated candidate Vitaliy Zhuravsky, former Party of Regions lawmawker who tried to criminalize libel, are the most negatively perceived candidates in the district.
Some 38 and 46 percent of polled residents who plan to take part in elections, respectively, have negative opinion about them.
Pavlo Dziublyk, nominated from Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s People’s Front party, has been a front-runner of the district so far with 15 percent support, while Zhuravsky is surprisingly close, with 13 percent, according to the poll.
Kyiv Post staff writer Anastasia Forina can be reached at [email protected]
