Former minister and Progressive Centrist Party high-flyer Lena Zilberman has announced she is standing down from parliament. Ms Zilberman, who’s career was heading to new heights, in a statement made by her partner cited the sad news that she had suffered a miscarriage. Gregory Karanovic, Zilberman’s partner, gave the couples’ statement to local newspaper ‘Khreschatyk’ late last night;
“Lena has decided to stand down from her public service work after we lost our unborn child at the weekend. It is with much regret that Lena is standing down – but together, we need time to heal.”
Zilberman, 47, was one of the most popular members of the Centrist party. Making her name in private sector capital, Ms Zilberman switched to public officer after being elected for the first time in 2007. She quickly found herself rising through the ranks of government, forcing through severe public sector reform at both Sport, Recreation and the Arts and then within the Department of Education, Science and Healthcare when she took the position in the autumn of 2008. A strong fiscal conservative, she was seen as the party’s brightest star and had tried to place her hat in the ring for the crown of Polascianan politics; seeking to become Centrist Party candidate for president. After securing the support of the young, dynamic cabinet – Zilberman was for a long time seen as the front-runner for president and steal the Centrist nomination from former president Koruin Gruaman. Widely expected to run for the Presidency with the backing of Krill Serbin, polls pointed to Ms Zilberman winning against the incumbent Pavel Lukyanov. But the political fairy-tail largely ended when Gruaman pulled ahead in successive polls and later in response to her challenge, would remove her from his top team in government. Many commentators at the time suggested Zilberman would find it difficult to bounce back, with the momentum evaporating fast from her campaign and her name recognition failing to rise beyond Centrist voters.
But with significant financial backing from her contacts in the business world, Zilberman had continued to insist she planned to run but her plans were thought to be over when she announced, on Twitter, just a few months ago that she was pregnant with her first child. In a brash statement she insinuated that Gruaman would not go on to win the election having not “fought [his] own battles in the party” and refused to back his candidacy for the nomination. Many within the party are thought to continue to believe that Ms Zilberman’s gender was not an issue for the electorate, but that her “experience had failed to shine through.” Many doubt how successful she would have been with the electorate, with no experience in international affairs nor leadership.
Tonight, Zilberman’s former colleagues in government have sent their support for her at this difficult time – and the Prime Minister is expected to put tensions aside to visit Ms Zilberman with sincere messages of thought for her and Mr Karanovic from his parliamentary members. Mr Gruaman refused to speculate about the timetable for replacing Ms Zilberman’s seat, speaking to PTV he said that the country would want his party to ‘send respect’ and ‘time for reflection’ to the couple.
The Prime Minister also refused to comment on Zilberman’s withdrawal from the presidential race, suggesting that he had already discussed the issue previous to the weekend’s events.
The race for the presidency now seems a straight fight between Gruaman and the Union Party candidate. President Lukyanov has announced his intention to re-stand, but as an independent would be vulnerable to a Unionist backed challenger. It is widely expected that he will instead announce his withdrawal from the campaign in the next few weeks, with speculation pointing to the Federal Council leader, Gennadiy Artamova, as the anointed candidate.
Mr Karanovic in a closing statement said that the couple thanked everyone for their kind messages of support, and said that the country had not seen the last of the Zilberman name in Polascianan politics.
