Viktor Yushchenko did everything possible to undermine Yulia Tymoshenko’s position

Rukh leader Borys Tarasyuk believes that President Viktor Yushchenko played a negative role in terms of uniting the democratic forces in Ukraine.

"I believe he played a very negative role with regard to unity of the democratic forces that in 2004 helped him come to power. He essentially broke up the democratic forces, destroyed the democratic coalition in the Verkhovna Rada, and destroyed our faction," Borys Tarasyuk said in an interview with the Latvian online resource DELFI.

The parliamentarian stressed that Viktor Yushchenko did everything possible to undermine Yulia Tymoshenko’s position as candidate for president. "Yushchenko, being himself a presidential candidate, did everything he could to undermine the position of the candidate from the democratic forces with the greatest support - Yulia Tymoshenko. He was essentially battling Yulia Tymoshenko, and not his opponent Viktor Yanukovych," Borys Tarasyuk said.

"And his appeals before round two to vote against both candidates played a fatal role, and as a result the forces we were against in 2004 came to power," added the leader of Rukh.

"Unfortunately, Viktor Yushchenko didn’t use his five years as president to the benefit of society. His showing in the election is society’s political verdict on him. In his five years as president he played more a destructive role than a positive one," Borys Tarasyuk concluded.