In the 2014 Ukrainian presidential election initially he ran as a candidate of his party on a federalization-platform that should have eventually led to a "parliamentary system without the institution of the presidency at all". But he withdrew from the race on 16 May. He stated he withdrew "to save Ukraine from arbitrariness, which takes place today" and said about the elections itself "in our opinion they will be illegitimate". Later the same day, Symonenko's car was attacked by a mob with baseball bats and Molotov cocktails as he left a TV interview. He was uninjured in the incident. In the 2014 Ukrainian presidential election he received 1.51% of the vote. Results election of Ukrainian president, Телеграф (29 May 2014)</ref>