Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko harshly criticized Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.
According to the mayor, the existing system in the country is far from democracy, but close to authoritarianism.
He spoke about this during an interview with the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail, as reported by TASS.
Everyone sees it as centralized
What we see right now I cannot call democracy. This smacks of verticality and authoritarianism, – said the former boxer.
And they blamed the current state of affairs on some citizens whose names he did not want to announce.
But he said that these gentlemen want to see absolutely everything in Ukraine centralized.
That’s why I see centralized media and television, and they are also trying to centralize power, build a vertical,” Klitschko noted.
Monopoly on information
Separately, he pointed out the fact that the majority of Ukrainian television airtime in the last 2 years has been occupied by the national telethon, where there is no room for alternative views.
“We see a real desire to present only one information that they are trying to control,” the head of the capital’s authorities complained.
And then he expressed the opinion that “a monopoly on information is not good.”
He also said that mayors and community heads elected by citizens are being replaced by people appointed “from above.”
In addition, Klitschko said that he shared his concerns in conversations with Western ambassadors in Kyiv.
When asked whether some diplomats shared his concerns, the official answered in the affirmative.
Klitschko’s claims
Ukrainian media have repeatedly written about the conflict between Vitali Klitschko and Vladimir Zelensky.
In particular, the mayor said that the drop in the president’s rating is a consequence of mistakes he made.
In addition, Klitschko accused the head of state of leading the country to authoritarianism, in which “everything depends on the mood of one person.”
Allegations against the mayor
In turn, the Ukrainian authorities accused the Kyiv mayor of problems with electricity and heating.
He was also accused of an insufficient number of public heating points and poor functioning of shelters in the city.
And because of the latter, the government reprimanded Klitschko, but did not fire him (the media assumed this).
Why wasn’t Klitschko fired?
Some heads of the city’s district administrations were fired.
Two more officials from the Kyiv administration were sent under house arrest – they were accused of official negligence.
Some Ukrainian publications reported that Klitschko’s dismissal was postponed due to the authorities’ concerns about a possible reaction from the West.
Earlier, Klitschko said that in the current conditions we are talking only about whether Ukraine will exist at all.
