Ex-Boxer Ends Candidacy for Ukraine Presidency
By ANDREW ROTH and DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
Vitali Klitschko, a leader of Ukraine’s recent political uprising, said
he would throw his support to the billionaire Petro Poroshenko.
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KIEV,
Ukraine — Vitali Klitschko, the former champion boxer and a leader of
the recent political uprising in Ukraine, said on Saturday that he was
abandoning his candidacy for president and would instead support the
billionaire Petro Poroshenko as the united candidate of parties seeking
improved democracy in the country.
“The
presidential elections in Ukraine on May 25 should join society and not
become another war of everyone against everyone,” Mr. Klitschko said at
a congress of his political party, the United Democratic Alliance for
Reform. The party’s acronym, Udar, means “Punch.”
Mr. Klitschko said he would run instead for mayor of Kiev with a goal of transforming the city into a “truly European capital.”
“The
situation calls for consolidation and unification of efforts,” he said,
in a speech at the Udar convention. “This can be achieved only if you
do not split the votes between the democratic candidates.”
Mr.
Klitschko said that Mr. Poroshenko, who has been leading in recent
opinion polls, should be the united candidate. “We stood and fought side
by side on Maidan,” Mr. Klitschko said, referring to Independence
Square, the central gathering point in Kiev for protests that eventually
led to the flight and ouster of the country’s president, Viktor F.
Yanukovych.
The
move by Mr. Klitschko, who enjoys wide name recognition because of his
fame as a boxer, could propel Mr. Poroshenko to a commanding lead in the
May 25 election.
Mr.
Poroshenko hailed the decision, saying it would serve the goals of the
thousands of people who demonstrated for more than three months in hopes
of putting Ukraine on the path to a pro-Western political future.
“It
would be a betrayal if we did not unite,” Mr. Poroshenko said at the
Udar Party congress. “This is a courageous, wise, great political act.”
Mr.
Poroshenko said that it was clear in light of the popular uprising, and
the deaths of more than 80 demonstrators in clashes with the police in
February, that officials had an obligation to be more responsive to the
public. “We live in a different country, where politicians must finally
learn to hear the voice of the people, the people’s demands,” he said.
“Politicians
should learn to unite,” he added. “Up until now in Ukrainian politics
there has not been a case when two candidates for president who have the
highest levels of support could take the step to unite. We and the Udar
party are laying absolutely new traditions in politics.”
Mr.
Poroshenko, a billionaire with many business interests, is best known
as the “chocolate king” for his ownership of Roshen, the Ukrainian
chocolate manufacturer. A veteran of Ukrainian politics, he has
expressed interest in a presidential bid but is still required to
formally file papers to become an official candidate.
On
Thursday, the former Ukrainian prime minister, Yulia V. Tymoshenko,
announced that she would run for president as the candidate of the
Fatherland party. Mr. Klitschko’s decision could put pressure on Ms.
Tymoshenko to step aside. Ms. Tymoshenko spent two and half years in
prison on charges, which her supporters and the West have long
criticized as politically motivated, that stem from her role as Mr.
Yanukovych’s archrival. He narrowly defeated her in Ukraine’s 2010
presidential election.
Ms.
Tymoshenko is by the far the best-known politician in the race and an
extremely charismatic speaker. But she faces an uphill climb in her
candidacy, given the public’s deep mistrust of anyone with long ties to
Ukrainian politics and government in a country with a long history of
corruption and mismanagement. Ms. Tymoshenko served twice as prime
minister and has been a prominent political figure for more than a
decade.
Another
veteran politician, Sergey Tigipko, a former vice prime minister and
head of the Ukrainian national bank and an ally of Mr. Yanukovych’s,
also recently declared his candidacy for president, as an independent.
Mr. Tigipko was elected to Parliament most recently as a member of Mr.
Yanukovych’s Party of Regions and had served in the Yanukovych
government. In the last weeks of the protests in Kiev, however, he had
been trying to negotiate some compromise that would ease Mr. Yanukovych
from power. A deal never came together, and Mr. Yanukovych fled on his
own volition.
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