Tymoshenko went too far capitalizing on flue epidemic, and now her approval rating in Western Ukraine has slightly declined, local experts say

November10200919:08

According to the phone poll held in Ternopil on Nov. 5-7, Zhuk said, 29% of respondents called the way the cabinet dealt with the flue effective. The same number of Ukrainians thought the cabinet was ineffective. 34 percent of respondents said the cabinet’s track record was both positive and negative. 8% of respondents were undecided.

In much the same way Ukrainians estimated the actions of the local government.

Tymoshenko’s approval rating had grown by 5% till Nov. 3 at the initial stages of the flue epidemic. At the second stage (after a nationwide live TV conference with oblast governors) Tymoshenko’s rating dwindled by 6%, showing that the populace didn’t believe the cabinet’s information about how the epidemic developed, Zhuk claims.

Voters sympathies in the Lviv oblast were divided similarly to those in the Ternopil oblast, Zhuk notes.

Another Lviv-based political expert, Anatolij Romaniuk said those politicians who didn’t try to capitalize on the flue did not endanger their ratings.

Simultaneously, Ihor Tanchyn from Franko Lviv University pointed out that the president, premier, speaker and opposition leader are those persons who, by definition, have to make public declarations, including the ones on the flue. Of course, there is the line of decency and propriety which should not be crossed by politicians, he remarked.

Ihor Tanchyn doesn’t believe the flue epidemic has significantly affected approval ratings of politicians. Voters, as soon as they have sided with any candidate, tend to select the information which fits their choice.

• 23:0611.11.09 Karen
• • I am hearing reports of over 1 million people in the Ukraine with pneumonic plague-like symptoms, the numbers growing 200,000 per day. Can anyone verify these numbers?
• 14:2411.11.09 Elmer fudd
• • Please elmer the main person seeking to politicise the flu epidemic was Yushchenko. Yushchenko and his henchmen were topying with the idea of declaring a state of emergency in order to prolong Yushchenko's term of office. Ukraine should have held the presidential election back on October.
    The WHO have warned of a second round of Flu virus infections in Spring (April to June). Yushchenko would then seek to extend his term of office a further six months.
    
    Yushchenko has limited authority and must not be allowed to prolong his term of office.
    If the election is not held in January then Yushchenko, who has less then 3.5% support should be removed from office and Lytvyn appointed as caretaker President until the election can be held.
• 20:5510.11.09 elmer
• • No question that Tymo, and Yanuk, and the rest of the politicians went too far in trying to take political advantage of the flu.
    But there is another question here, which is 2-part: what have the "political elite" in Ukraine been doing with the health care system since 1991? since 2004?
    And, please - the word is "flu", not "flue". You can check it out in the dictionary - http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flue/.
    Chimneys have "flues". People get the flu.