Viktor Medvedchuk is not one of my favorite people. Back in the pre-Yushchenko days, he was basically Darth Vader to President Kuchma’s evil Emperor. It was Viktor Medvedchuk who censored and controlled public opinion, distributing Soviet-style temniki talking points to the media. Members of his political party, the SDPU(o) are making noises that he may run for president in the upcoming 2010 elections.

It’s hard to say how much validity there might be to these rumors. Some people think it’s a genuine possibility, others think he’s just trying to raise the profile of his party, and still others think he may run as a “technical candidate” in order to smooth the way for a Tymoshenko election victory.