The song is over. Why "Voice" absorbed itself and what'll happen to Rudyk's party
From the first days of the Voice faction in parliament, deputies gained a reputation of good guys. While some "servants of the people" talked to the escort just from under the dome, Sviatoslav Vakarchuk's party members tried to take on the role of the most constructive force in the Verkhovna Rada. Some deputies didn't get into scandals at all for a while, but the irony is that it didn't help; the ratings of the political group were declining every month, and it's already obvious that there's very little chance for the "Voice" to get to the next convocation.
The worst thing is that a genuine struggle has unfolded within the party, and the arguing has become so strong that it's almost impossible to hide it. Why Vakarchuk's former project is rapidly sinking, how the new leader Kira Rudyk is trying to promote a fading brand, and why something good is unlikely to come out of it, find out on Rubryka.
"Soon they'll start to crawl away"
Rumors that things in the "Voice" leadership aren't going very well, surfaced in late January. In those days, a party congress took place, which was virtually not covered on social media and the political party's website.
A few days later, the first rumors spread. As informed sources told Rubryka, the congress ended in a scandal between then-member of the political council Serhii Prytula and party leader Kira Rudyk. At the same congress, people's deputies, Inna Sovsun, Yaroslav Zhelezniak, and Andrii Osadchuk became new members; every one of them is close to Rudyk and, as they say, are supporters of the course of growing rapport with the Office of the President and the Servant of the People party.
After that, Prytula ostentatiously distanced himself from what was happening in the political party, and word on the street is that he's already been preparing for a new political project. The former leader didn't respond even when the split within the "Voice" was discussed everywhere.
The detonator was the memorable protests of Serhii Sternenko's supporters near the President's Office, when activists staged mayhem, breaking glass and painting walls.
Shortly afterward, one of the People's Deputies of the Voice party, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, published a post on Facebook where he justified the rioters' actions. The party leadership didn't understand this position, in particular, the leader of the "Voice" faction Yaroslav Zalizniak, who condemned them "for vandalism."
Then the conflict began to escalate, shedding light on the global ideological differences between the rebels and the leadership. Shortly afterward, Yurchyshyn wrote on the Internet that he and six other people's deputies had been warned about the possibility of them being excluded from the party, allegedly, because they supported sending a draft law on NABU and SBI to the CCU, which is very important for the President's Office as it expands Zelenskyi's powers.
The party denied the information about threatening with expulsion, but the problems can no longer be hidden.
"If we predict the future of the Voice and its probable split, then I'm inclined to say that it'll happen. We see that the notional 'schismatics,' Yurchyshyn, Solomiia Bobrovska, Ustinova, Lozynskyi, have brought this conflict into the public platform and insist that they will not seek a compromise with the leadership and will advocate changes in the leadership. If they've made it public and continue to conflict even in social networks, it's apparent that they no longer can pull the act. Most likely, the split will take place," political expert Mariian Oshchanovskyi told Rubryka.
"Plus, Prytula's behavior shows it. He didn't comment on the mutual accusations that began in the Voice. Before that, he withdrew when there were disputes over the party's position. It looks like he's starting to work on his project. He doesn't even appear on the air on behalf of the party. Thus, the party lost the highest-ranking member. Accordingly, these people have no incentive to reach out to someone; they don't believe in this project's prospects in the next election. I think they'll begin to diverge closer to the next election: in the next year and a half, we'll watch them crawl away, as everyone will worry about their political future and try to jump into other projects," the expert added.
Is there a chance to save the "Voice"?
As an informed source in the parliament told Rubryka, now the political force has two major problems: unclear positioning and problems with finances.
The first aspect was a predictable consequence of the artificiality, created by political force, which from the onset spoke for all the good and against all the bad. In fact, it was the political credo of its creator, Vakarchuk, who failed to build his political career or party on it. The second is its outcome because "Voice" is a perilous investment that is unlikely to bring many benefits to the investor. There are hardly any people willing to spend money before the election.
"Does it need saving? The Voice is a mixture of 'sub-European solidarity' and the reflection of one of the pro-Western wings of the Servant of the People party. The voter honestly doesn't understand what kind of people they are, what they've been doing for two years in parliament, and why he/she should vote for them. There are no strong charismatic leaders, no famous people, and, of course, no money. Ukrainian millionaires aren't stupid and usually know where it makes sense to invest, and where exactly they don't need to do that. The Voice is the latter. That's why they'll have very little money for the elections," political expert Anton Zviahintsev told Rubryka.
In turn, political expert Mariian Oshchanovskyi believes that they still have a shot at rescue, albeit a small one.
"There are two ways to stop these aligned processes: replacing the leadership with a more compromising one that will find common ground with all groups in the faction. But it won't save it either, as the Voice will remain a low-rated party. Therefore, they need a frontman with high ratings, which they don't have. And they cannot promote any of the available ones. They need a new Prytula or Vakarchuk, who'll have 3-4% from the start. Then it's possible to save the Voice," the expert said.
Party revolt is gaining momentum
Likely, the two hostile groups in the Voice don't want to seek compromises. On the evening of March 29, a statement surfaced in the media, written by ten deputies of the faction demanding the re-election of the leadership.
The reason is the same: Rudyk, Zalizniak, and the company's growing rapport with the President's Office and "Servant of the People" party.
"We're disappointed with the party and faction leadership refusing to sign the resolution on dismissal of Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova, although most members of the faction consider her work a failure. We condemn the leadership of the party and the faction for their convert negotiations on joining a coalition with the ruling party. We don't see ourselves in a coalition with a political force that expiates Tatarov and Stepanov, appoints Shkarlet, throws political prisoners behind bars, fails vaccination, and believes in Russia's peaceful intentions. Such a coalition is unacceptable," a statement from deputies, signed by almost half of the faction, reads.
"We demand: to develop, discuss and approve democratic changes to the party's charter in detail and openly, which will eliminate the pattern of one-man decision-making and expand the powers of party units. And also to hold new transparent and fair elections of the party leadership, which will allow us to restart the work of the party and the Voice faction," the rebels demand.
A very serious step that requires a response from Rudyk. Otherwise, the political force may forget about achievements in parliament until the next election. At the same time, if the Voice really supports true democratic values, then from its leader's point of view, it'd be more logical to agree to re-elections and win them, of course.
Otherwise, in the coming months, we'll see the project's sad ending, which began so interestingly.
The holy place is never empty, and there's almost no doubt that in the next elections, we'll see a new trendy project with a pro-Western direction unless the fashion for such a project won't finally have passed.
