If Yanukovych wipes out Mejlis, its place will be taken by radical extremists

There are two reasons why the Party of regions is on a war path against the Mejlis, Prytula explains.

“The first reasons stems from the mindset of the Donetsk clan which excludes any opposition. By refusing to attend a meeting with Pres Yanukovych on Aug. 3, Mejlis snubbed Viktor Yanukovych, something for which it must take the fall, the president’s entourage believes.”

“The second reason is the PR’s drive to suppress the opposition. The Mejlis cooperated with BYuT in the past, and still continues to do so,” Prytula says.

The stand-off with Mejlis is a very grave mistake of the new Ukrainian regime, the expert stresses.

If the Mejlis is wiped out by the authorities the feelings of defeat will spread amid the Crimean Tatars. At this point the national movement will give way to the liberation struggle with a heavy religious dimension. In this case, Kyiv will have to face radical Hizb-ut-Tahrir and similar organizations, not the liberal nationalist Mustafa Dzhemilev and his followers, Prytula warns.