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

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.