Blue &Yellow: Politics and Economics in Ukraine

Update: President will take part in the presidential election, even though is approval rating is below 5% (Ukrainska Pravda).

Dzerkalo Tyzhnia reports on a new poll on voter support among possible presidential candidates. Yanukovich had 25.6%, Tymoshenk 14.4% and Yatsenyuk with 13.6%.  Yushchenko had a paltry 2.4% with Lytvyn receiving just a bit more support at 2.9%.  Yanukovich also came out ahead when pitted against Tymoshenko or Yatsenyuk in a hypothetical second round match.  

In a separate report from DT, voters were asked about the party they would support in the next Rada Election.  Regions had 23.3%, , 12.5% -BYuT, and 10.2 % -Bloc Yatsenyuk.  All other parties’ received less than 5%, 3.5% - KPU, 2.7%- Bloc Lytvyn, and Yushchenko's Nasha Ukraina had 1.9% (Svoboda, the party that won in Ternopil, had 1.8%). 

And now we see why BYuT opposes early elections, with Regions/Yanukovich currently ahead the party knows its not ready for new elections. It also shows that the Regions benefited from negative economic news, along with the political infighing between Tymoshenko and Yushchenko. I also suspect that BYuT's support is being drained by Yatsenyuk, whose association with Yushchenko isn't damaging him politically.

As for Yushchenko, it’s been clear for months that his chances of winning re-election were slim to none. These latest numbers are just more evidence that his lost almost all his support. He is irrelevant in both elections as a candidate, but not as president. What sort of deal will he cut in order to avoid political reprisal?