Parliamentary Deputy Mykola Katerynchuk of the Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense bloc (OU-PSD), who is the leader of the European Party, is intending to run for Kyiv mayor if the legislation is amended to introduce the two-ballot system for mayoral elections.
Katerynchuk gave his position in an open letter to Kyivans, the Verkhovna Rada, President Viktor Yuschenko, and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
"I am ready to move forward as a candidate at the mayoral elections," the letter reads.
In his opinion, the mayoral elections should be held in two rounds not to allow candidates taking advantages of the drawbacks of the legislation.
The drawback [the winner-takes-all election system with one round] benefited Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetskyi at the elections in 2006, although he was supported by one third of the voters.
Katerynchuk doesn't rule out that Chernovetskyi may build his campaign to win low-income voters again.
Therefore, Katerynchuk urges the Verkhovna Rada to urgently form a group of experts to draft a bill introducing the "two-ballot" or "runoff election" plurality system for mayoral elections and endorse the law.
Katerynchuk is ready to head the group of experts.
Moreover, Katerynchuk said it would be wrong to appoint a single candidate from the coalition [at the parliament].
"I am opposed to a scenario depriving Kyivans of the right to their own choice and I condemn any backstage agreements concerning the thrusting on Kyivans 'a choice without choosing' - 'the appointment of the mayor in one's offices," he said.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the European Party has decided to take part in the early elections to the Kyiv City Council.
The election campaign in Kyiv started on March 26.
The Verkhovna Rada has called the early mayoral and city council elections in Kyiv for May 25.
Katerynchuk has expressed doubt that the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and the OU-PSD would nominate a single candidate in case of early mayoral elections in Kyiv.
Press conference with Situations Modeling Agency entitled "Earlier Kharkiv elections: possible consequences and prospects for participants of electoral process"
