On the election night Kyiv did not sleep. Elite Pechersk multistoried buildings shined with light, windows of CEC and schools-kindergartens, where local election committees found shelter, gleamed tiredly. The tension reached its peak in the places of "force concentration" - central head quarters of large political parties. Response to stress varied: some politicians walked nervously back and forth, some were pronouncedly calm and others even left. Here is a short report about the events of the HQ night 2012.
The Party of Regions organized its head quarters on the ground floor of the "Intercontinental" hotel - fairly appropriate place for the winners, with luxurious interior and high quality acoustics. Every table had the party flag on it.
The hall was equipped with blue screens and lamps, which created the impression of blue smoke covering journalists and VIPs.
At 8 pm, the press center was crowded with camera operators, journalists, political scientists. The leaders of the party were sitting at separate tables, but close to each other. The announcement of the first results was coming and the Premier was getting ready to deliver a speech.
The moment finally arrived, but the data of the exit poll made Mykola Azarov fall to thinking.
The Premier congratulated the present with the victory of the Party of Regions and that was it - no arrogant faith in success.
The atmosphere in the head quarters was hardly festive and solemn, but rather working. Politicians and diplomats were announcing plans for the future, were estimating the election campaign...
... and were drinking exclusively water.
The Prime Minister appeared to be the most hard-working person in the center. Several times he had to take the floor and speak live.
Not by politics alone. "Gossip" magazine and Olympic boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk came to visit the winners.
Somewhere about 11 pm the "residents" of the HQ started to pack - some went home, others went to participate in talk-shows. Around midnight the press center was about to close.
Meanwhile in the HQ of the opposition...
The night in the head quarters of the oppositions can be characterized as boring - either the opposition had come through their nervous strain before, or they were damn sure about the results. Who knows...?
The head quarter itself was a surprise - in the end of October they decided to set a large tent on the Sofia square. The situation was saved by heating units.
The opposition members were not the most active ones. At 20.15 pm, when voting stations were officially closed, Arseniy Yatseniuk and Oleksandr Turchynov came out to journalist to give short comments on the preliminary results of exit polls, congratulated potential allies in the future parliament and left for two hours.
Other representatives of the opposition were not so much talkative. Oleksandra Kuzhel was studying something carefully in the corner, and then Andriy Shevchenko arrived.
The head quarter of Batkivshchyna party was also visited by EU ambassador Jan Tombinski. His short conversation with Arseniy Yatseniuk remained a mystery for journalists. They talked whispering...
Then the officials left and mainly journalists remained in the tent. Some international observers from Montenegro, Holland and Spain joined journalists later. They were drinking, eating and recording something...
After the second briefing of the opposition leaders, somewhere around 11 pm, journalists "attacked" Arseniy Yatseniuk's wife Teresa. She seemed to be in a good mood and voluntarily talked to the guests.
However, the event itself looked like the Journalist Day rather than the work of the head quarter. Informational tension and expectations gradually grew into fights between journalists about the composition of the new parliament.
Meanwhile, Mikhailivska square was more fun. Headed by the Party of Regions, Ukrainian show business stars entertained the public on the occasion of the 68th anniversary of Kyiv's liberation from Nazi occupation.
After the concert, the guests enjoyed fireworks. A big part of guests of the opposition headquarter also came out to enjoy the show.
Communist in the basement did not believe the results of the exit poll and promised not to sleep
Unlike the opposition, the night in the headquarter of communist was nervous, but without incidents. Leaders of the party briefed journalists regularly. The party leader Petro Symonenko even spoke live several times.
Before the first briefing, communists handed charts with violations, detected by CU during the elections.
After the official voting deadline, communists refused to speak about preliminary results. Head of the HQ Ihor Alekseyev declared the situation is complicated, especially in single-mandate constituencies.
In general, communists repeatedly expressed their disbelief in the results, provide by the exit poll.
It's worth mentioning that journalists were dissatisfied with the work in the headquarters of communists. First of all, the press center was located in a basement with poor internet and mobile phone connection. Chairs and printed materials were not enough for all, even though journalists were not numerous. However, the head quarter offered guests snacks and drinks.
Before the briefing of Petro Symonenko, the comers could enjoy fireworks and admire the bas-relief of Lenin on the wall in the inner yard. It turned out that communists treat with due care the soviet past. Thus, the guard of the Central headquarter keeps a framed portrait of Stalin on this table.
Petro Symonenko seemed fresh and promised not sleep the whole night. He told the briefing that this time twice more people voted for the Communist Party comparing to the last parliamentary elections.
There were also many statements about corruption of other candidates and political forces and heated comments on blackouts at voting stations of Luhansk.
In general, communists in the HQ were jumpy. No surprise, as all of them were shocked with the first results of their rivals.
UDAR appeared small...
About the night in the headquarters of Vitaly Klichko's party UDAR we cannot report anything, unfortunately. ForUm was refused accreditation due to "limited number of places in the press center and big number of timely accreditation requests." What can we say? Probably, the election campaign was very expensive, and the party does not have money for additional chairs and coffee for the press.
"Freedom" union was free
All-Ukrainian Union "Freedom" did not have a headquarter as it is. Fellow party members of the leader Oleh Tyagnybok, who managed to vote yesterday only at the second attempt, were controlling the voting process at capital's voting stations and then gathered in an ordinary apartment in Kyiv.
The night of the elections came to the end, but the most interesting things are just starting...
Alina Yeremeyeva, Tetyana Matsur, Anastasia Pika, photos by Maxim Trebukhov and Viktor Kovalchuk
The Party of Regions organized its head quarters on the ground floor of the "Intercontinental" hotel - fairly appropriate place for the winners, with luxurious interior and high quality acoustics. Every table had the party flag on it.
The hall was equipped with blue screens and lamps, which created the impression of blue smoke covering journalists and VIPs.
At 8 pm, the press center was crowded with camera operators, journalists, political scientists. The leaders of the party were sitting at separate tables, but close to each other. The announcement of the first results was coming and the Premier was getting ready to deliver a speech.
The moment finally arrived, but the data of the exit poll made Mykola Azarov fall to thinking.
The Premier congratulated the present with the victory of the Party of Regions and that was it - no arrogant faith in success.
The atmosphere in the head quarters was hardly festive and solemn, but rather working. Politicians and diplomats were announcing plans for the future, were estimating the election campaign...
... and were drinking exclusively water.
The Prime Minister appeared to be the most hard-working person in the center. Several times he had to take the floor and speak live.
Not by politics alone. "Gossip" magazine and Olympic boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk came to visit the winners.
Somewhere about 11 pm the "residents" of the HQ started to pack - some went home, others went to participate in talk-shows. Around midnight the press center was about to close.
Meanwhile in the HQ of the opposition...
The night in the head quarters of the oppositions can be characterized as boring - either the opposition had come through their nervous strain before, or they were damn sure about the results. Who knows...?
The head quarter itself was a surprise - in the end of October they decided to set a large tent on the Sofia square. The situation was saved by heating units.
The opposition members were not the most active ones. At 20.15 pm, when voting stations were officially closed, Arseniy Yatseniuk and Oleksandr Turchynov came out to journalist to give short comments on the preliminary results of exit polls, congratulated potential allies in the future parliament and left for two hours.
Other representatives of the opposition were not so much talkative. Oleksandra Kuzhel was studying something carefully in the corner, and then Andriy Shevchenko arrived.
The head quarter of Batkivshchyna party was also visited by EU ambassador Jan Tombinski. His short conversation with Arseniy Yatseniuk remained a mystery for journalists. They talked whispering...
Then the officials left and mainly journalists remained in the tent. Some international observers from Montenegro, Holland and Spain joined journalists later. They were drinking, eating and recording something...
After the second briefing of the opposition leaders, somewhere around 11 pm, journalists "attacked" Arseniy Yatseniuk's wife Teresa. She seemed to be in a good mood and voluntarily talked to the guests.
However, the event itself looked like the Journalist Day rather than the work of the head quarter. Informational tension and expectations gradually grew into fights between journalists about the composition of the new parliament.
Meanwhile, Mikhailivska square was more fun. Headed by the Party of Regions, Ukrainian show business stars entertained the public on the occasion of the 68th anniversary of Kyiv's liberation from Nazi occupation.
After the concert, the guests enjoyed fireworks. A big part of guests of the opposition headquarter also came out to enjoy the show.
Communist in the basement did not believe the results of the exit poll and promised not to sleep
Unlike the opposition, the night in the headquarter of communist was nervous, but without incidents. Leaders of the party briefed journalists regularly. The party leader Petro Symonenko even spoke live several times.
Before the first briefing, communists handed charts with violations, detected by CU during the elections.
After the official voting deadline, communists refused to speak about preliminary results. Head of the HQ Ihor Alekseyev declared the situation is complicated, especially in single-mandate constituencies.
In general, communists repeatedly expressed their disbelief in the results, provide by the exit poll.
It's worth mentioning that journalists were dissatisfied with the work in the headquarters of communists. First of all, the press center was located in a basement with poor internet and mobile phone connection. Chairs and printed materials were not enough for all, even though journalists were not numerous. However, the head quarter offered guests snacks and drinks.
Before the briefing of Petro Symonenko, the comers could enjoy fireworks and admire the bas-relief of Lenin on the wall in the inner yard. It turned out that communists treat with due care the soviet past. Thus, the guard of the Central headquarter keeps a framed portrait of Stalin on this table.
Petro Symonenko seemed fresh and promised not sleep the whole night. He told the briefing that this time twice more people voted for the Communist Party comparing to the last parliamentary elections.
There were also many statements about corruption of other candidates and political forces and heated comments on blackouts at voting stations of Luhansk.
In general, communists in the HQ were jumpy. No surprise, as all of them were shocked with the first results of their rivals.
UDAR appeared small...
About the night in the headquarters of Vitaly Klichko's party UDAR we cannot report anything, unfortunately. ForUm was refused accreditation due to "limited number of places in the press center and big number of timely accreditation requests." What can we say? Probably, the election campaign was very expensive, and the party does not have money for additional chairs and coffee for the press.
"Freedom" union was free
All-Ukrainian Union "Freedom" did not have a headquarter as it is. Fellow party members of the leader Oleh Tyagnybok, who managed to vote yesterday only at the second attempt, were controlling the voting process at capital's voting stations and then gathered in an ordinary apartment in Kyiv.
The night of the elections came to the end, but the most interesting things are just starting...
Alina Yeremeyeva, Tetyana Matsur, Anastasia Pika, photos by Maxim Trebukhov and Viktor Kovalchuk
Спасибі за Вашу активність, Ваше питання буде розглянуто модераторами найближчим часом
858
