Vitali Klitschko lifelong judges and appointments through administrative leverage". He wants to ensure the independence of judges by switching from a system of appointed judges to a system of elected judges. In July 2012 party-leader Klitschko stated his party UDAR will not cooperate with the Party of Regions in the Ukrainian Parliament. In early April 2013 Klitschko called for early presidential and parliamentary elections in Ukraine. Klitschko is a member of the International Republican Institute's International Advisory Council. Klitschko's father, Vladimir Rodionovich Klitschko (1947–2011), was a Soviet Air Force major general and a Soviet military attaché in East Germany. The elder Klitschko
Lennox Lewis vs. Vitali Klitschko 2003 to determine who would face Lewis next. Klitschko easily dispatched Johnson, winning by second-round technical knockout, to set up a rematch with Lewis. However, rather than proceed with his rematch with Klitschko, Lewis announced his retirement two months later on February 7, 2004, vacating his titles in the process. Two months later, Klitschko met the WBC's number two ranked contender and then-reigning WBO champion Corrie Sanders, who had defeated Klitschko's brother Wladimir earlier in 2003, for the vacant WBC and "The Ring" Heavyweight titles. Klitschko defeated Sanders, who relinquished his WBO title to fight Klitschko, by eighth-round technical knockout