Former Odesa Mayor Trukhanov remains informal party leader

Former Odesa mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov will remain the informal leader of the party "Trust the Deeds". The party under his control will retain influence on local politics.

In the program Intent. Insight program, MPs Mykhailo Shmushkovych (European Solidarity) and Oleh Etnarovych (Trust the Deeds) discussed the reasons for the changes and the political motives of the central government.

According to Etnarovych, the introduction of a military administration in Odesa was a signal from the state to control the strategic city, especially after the failure of the NABU and SAPO initiatives at the central level. The political task was to show the strength of the state in a particular city, and Odesa was not chosen by chance: the city was affected by floods, but at the same time, support for Trukhanov remained high.

At the same time, the MPs emphasized that the central government chose this method of intervention instead of procedural removal of the mayor. Legal procedures could have preserved some of Trukhanov's political influence, but would not have allowed the state to fully control the situation.

The main goal of the state is to gain control over the city, not to personally fight the mayor," explained Etnarovych.

According to the deputies, they used to say that he did not have a "fighting spirit". But even without this, with a strong faction in the city council and influence in the offices, Trukhanov's team understands that if a new head of the military administration is appointed, it could lead to a protracted confrontation.

They noted that Trukhanov's influence on the "Trust the Deeds" party remains, he will be the informal head of the party, and the person who will be appointed will actually be the de jure head, not the de facto head. His people continue to work not only in the city council, but also in the regional council. And, according to polls, the level of support among Odesa residents is still high.

The politicians also emphasized that the Trukhanov era is still ongoing, and his return to politics is quite possible. Everyone has already seen a similar situation with Eduard Hurvits in 1998: he returned to power a few years later. The history of Odesa knows such examples, so now we can also talk about the risk of a repeat.

They emphasized that this does not mean that the former mayor will cease to influence the city or the political situation - even Hurwitz remained an influential figure after his departure, having been elected to the parliament several times. According to politicians, the era of the former mayor will not end until a new era begins.

Earlier, Anatoliy Boyko, head of the Odesa regional organization of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, noted that the authorities' actions have a political background. He explained that Trukhanov was deprived of power not because of corruption or tragedies, but to establish a city military administration and take control of the key city before possible elections.

Анна Літман