KYIV. April 7 (Interfax) - Serhiy Tihipko, a Ukrainian parliamentarian and presidential candidate, said he believes the Party of Regions is partially responsible for the fact that the people of Donetsk and Luhansk do not feel safe now.
"I remained a member of the Party of Regions and its faction at the most difficult time. However, the party has now been turned into a branch of a specific financial and industrial group, a private enterprise. All decisions are made by one person. There is repression going on against people who do not agree with the party's policies. There is a real fight against dissent. Instead of renewal and democratization, which voters expect from us, cleansing is going on," Tihipko said in his address to his comrades released by his press service on Monday.
"People who tried to openly back my candidacy are now being forced to leave the party. I have also been expelled from the Party of Regions. All my comrades will be expelled from the party in the near future. It is a betrayal of the interests of the party and the country. However, this betrayal did not begin today. These people are responsible for what the provisional government is doing in Ukraine," Tihipko said.
Tihipko said he is convinced that Ukraine needs a powerful party representing the interests of the people of its southeastern regions.
"The Right Sector and [Svoboda party] are now setting the tone in Kyiv. The people of the southeastern regions are turning to radicalism to save themselves. The Party of Regions is partially to blame for the fact that the people of Donetsk and Luhansk don't feel secure. The party's functionaries are putting separatist ideas up for the agenda," Tihipko said.
The politician said he does not want to be with the people who have seized power in the country and are trying to secure their business interests at the country's expense.
"I have done all I could to conduct democratic changes in the party, to make a system in which the party administration would hear you, ordinary members of the party. However, the chance for a renewal of the Party of Regions is lost," he said.