Yulia Tymoshenko was the Orange Revolution’s poster girl, wearing her signature crown braid in Kyiv, Ukraine.  ,
What the demonstrators claimed was Viktor Yanukovych’s election as Ukraine’s first female prime minister were overturned by mass pro-Western protests in 2004.
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However, the term “scandal” is most frequently associated with Tymoshenko’s political career and recent ideological shifts toward neo-conservative nationalism, which have a lot of resonance with Trump’s rhetoric.
Tymoshenko, a well-known opposition politician, failed to win the presidency three times, including in 2019 when Ukrainians chose comedian Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a comedian with no political experience, despite her chameleon-like populism.
Tymoshenko accused Zelenskyy of launching corruption charges against her last week, putting her in the position of “narrow-minded dictator” and preventing her from running for president again.
Her sluggish approval ratings, according to Observers, indicate that she is not a “counterweight to Zelenskyy,” and that her conflict with the president may weaken military decisions. Additionally, her obstructing new cabinet appointments is an “outrageous crime.”
By pursuing his closest allies and members of his Servant of the People party, anticorruption investigators who charged Tymoshenko with “buying” lawmakers’ votes on Wednesday have demonstrated their independence from Zelenskyy.
Investigators recorded Tymoshenko speaking with a Servant of the People lawmaker about bribes of $10,000 per vote and conducted a 12-hour search of Tymoshenko’s Motherland party office.
Tymoshenko is reportedly heard saying on the tape, “If we agree with you today, then we’re recording who’s with you, and we’ll be paying you.”
The scheme was long-term, according to prosecutor’s offices from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.
They claimed that these were regular mechanisms of cooperation that involved advance payments and were intended for a long period of time. “Lawmakers were given instructions on how to vote, and in some cases, how to abstain or not participate in the vote.”
Tymoshenko is reportedly alleged to have said that her party’s rigged voting would oppose the appointment of new defense and energy ministers while addressing the alleged payments.
Due to prolonged, exhausting hours- and even days-long blackouts brought on by Russia’s methodical missile and drone strikes on energy infrastructure, the lower house of parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, has so far failed to cast a ballot in Denys Shmygal as the new energy minister.
Mikhail Fyodorov, the former minister of digital development, was chosen as the new defense minister on Wednesday.
Tymoshenko is accused of “outrageous” conduct.
Although Tymoshenko’s party only has 25 seats in the 450-seat Verkhovna Rada, Zelenskyy’s control of the 227-seat majority has decreased.
At this point, Kyiv-based analyst Igar Tyshkevych said, “The ruling party has no majority, and other partners haggle with it, and it’s pretty logical.”
A four-star general believes that Tymoshenko’s refusal to facilitate the appointment of key ministers is nothing short of criminal.
The energy minister is “really important” when a country is at war and the defense minister’s position is of the highest importance, and when it is cold, without heating, and without running water, according to Lieutenant General Ihor Romanenko, former deputy head of the Ukrainian General Staff.
He claimed that she should be held accountable for “her being the most outrageous crime during the war” and that this was undoubtedly a crime.
He claimed Tymoshenko has a track record of preventing government actions to defend Ukraine from Moscow’s aggression. She urged the use of force against tens of thousands of Russian soldiers who invaded Crimea during the interregnum that followed Yanukovych’s ouster in early 2014.
In 2010, when Yanukovych won the election, Tymoshenko was sentenced to seven years in prison for “abuse of power.”
She was freed by pro-Western protesters after he fled to Russia.
According to Romanenko, “she said no soldier should leave the barracks and no tank should leave the box.”
Even though elections were prohibited during the Russian invasion’s fifth year in February, Tymoshenko has asserted that the current corruption investigation against her is intended to prevent her from participating in one.
She wrote on Facebook on Wednesday, allegedly referring to Zelenskyy, that “the election is closer than it seemed, and someone decided to purge the rivals.” I’ve known I’ve never been afraid because I’ve always been truthful with the people, Ukraine, and myself.
Zelenskyy has no place in the competition.
Her claim was derided by analysts.
Volodymyr Fesenko, the head of the Kyiv-based Penta think tank, stated to Al Jazeera that Tymoshenko is “no competitor for Zelenskyyy.”
He claimed that she has “no chance of even making it to the second round,” citing polls that characterize Tymoshenko as one of the “most hated” politicians in Ukraine and claim that she has no chance of even making it to the top three percent.
She would be number six, seven, or eight if presidential elections were held now, according to Fesenko.
However, Tymoshenko’s diatribes against Zelenskyy and the investigation may alter how quickly and effectively decisions are made during the war.
The rift may threaten Zelenskyy’s authority over the Verkhovna Rada because Motherland agreed with him on the majority of the bills.
So Fesenko claimed that the investigation is harmful to the president and the overall war effort despite what Tymoshenko claimed about her alleged danger to Zelenskyy during a presumptive presidential campaign.
Tymoshenko’s role as one of Verkhovna Rada’s puppet masters is the subject of anticorruption investigations.
Fesenko described her as “one of the few reputable politicians in the Rada who deals with shady financial matters.” She has practiced it her entire life.
Two dozen lawmakers were charged with corruption and vote rigging by anticorruption organizations in late December, five of whom were charged with the Servant of the People.
Even though the alleged wrongdoers’ convictions are not certain, the scandal will still garner media attention.
A former Motherland lawmaker who spoke to Al Jazeera on the condition of anonymity said, “She is going to get away with it.” He worries that Tymoshenko will “retaliate” against him.
She detests Zelenskyy’s grotesque guts. He claimed that she believes he “stole her presidency” in 2019. She now believes that he has arrested anticorruption officials in order for her to win the election, which is absurd given her low ratings.
Tymoshenko is prohibited from leaving the Kyiv region because he has posted bail of 33 million hryvnia (761, 000).
Source: Aljazeera
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