Political parties in Ukraine
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This article presents the historical development and role of political parties in Ukrainian politics, and outlines more extensively the significant modern political parties since Ukraine gained independence in 1991.
Overview
Ukraine has a multi-party system with numerous political parties, in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments. In the (October 2014) Ukrainian parliamentary election 52 political parties nominated candidates.[1] In the nationwide (October 2015) local elections this number had grown to 132 political parties.[2]
Many parties in Ukraine have very small memberships and are unknown to the general public.[3] Party membership in Ukraine is lower than 1% of the population eligible to vote (compared to an average 4.7% in the European Union[4]).[5][6] National parties currently not represented in Ukraine's national parliament Verkhovna Rada do have representatives in municipal councils.[7][8][9][10] Small parties used to join in multi-party coalitions (electoral blocks) for the purpose of participating in parliamentary elections, but on November 17, 2011, the Ukrainian Parliament approved an election law that banned the participation of blocs of political parties in parliamentary elections.[11] Ukrainian society's trust of political parties is very low overall.[3][12] According to an April 2014 poll by Razumkov Centre 14.7%.[13] According to a February 2020 poll by again Razumkov Centre, more than 70% of respondents said they rather or completely did not trust political parties.[3]
The Ukrainian oligarchs play a key role in sponsoring of political parties and participation in every day politics.[14]
Legal framework
Parties can only register with the
10 years in a row not nominating candidates for national parliamentary and presidential elections is a legal ground for liquidating a party.[3][nb 1]
Ukraine’s election law forbids outside financing of political parties or campaigns.[18]
All data on any legal political parties as any other public organizations in Ukraine is kept at the Single Registry (Ukrainian: Єдиний реєстр громадських формувань, Yedynyi reyestr hromadskykh formuvan), with online version of which provided by the Ministry of Justice.[19] On 1 January 2020 349 political parties were in this register.[3]
Major parties and political camps
There have developed two major movements[nb 2][nb 3] in the Ukrainian parliament since its independence:[22][23][24]
- A
- A anti-liberal group of parties, which in the 1990s was dominated by the Communist Party of Ukraine, and was dominated by the Party of Regions from the late 2000s until the party disintegrated shortly after the Revolution of Dignity.[23][27][32]
The first movement (mentioned above) gets its voters mainly from Western Ukraine and Central Ukraine; the latter from Eastern Ukraine and Southern Ukraine.[33]
| Political camps[34] | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
anti-Russian, and Ukrainian nationalist
|
Domination of Russian culture and preservation of Soviet culture, latently Eurosceptic, often anti-American and partly anti-liberal | Regional and local interests, city and oblast level politics | Parliamentary groups, formed post-election and often with the backing of an oligarch and few shared positions among members | |||||||
| Opposition Platform — For Life Our Land Opposition Bloc Party of Shariy Nashi Trust the Deeds |
Proposition
Successful Kharkiv All-Ukrainian Union "Cherkashchany" Bloc Svitlychna Together! Native City Native Zakarpattia Native Home Bila Tserkva Together |
Trust
| ||||||||
Ideology
Ukrainian parties tend not to have a clear ideology but to contain different political groups with diverging ideological outlooks.
Particularity of parties in Ukraine
Professor Paul D'Anieri has argued (in 2006) that Ukrainian parties are "elite-based rather than mass-based,"[36] while former Ambassador of Germany to Ukraine (2000–2006) Dietmar Stüdemann from Embassy of Germany, Kyiv believes that personalities are more important in Ukrainian politics than (ideological) platforms. "Parties in the proper meaning of this word do not exist in Ukraine so far. A party for Germans is its platform first, and its personalities later."[37]
History
| Number of parties | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Amount | |||||||
| January 2009 | 161[38] | |||||||
| July 2009 | 172[39] | |||||||
| May 2010 | 179[40][41] | |||||||
| July 2010 | 182[42] | |||||||
| September 2011 | 197[43] | |||||||
| November 2012 | 201[38] | |||||||
Independent Ukraine, party forming (early 1990s)
Even before
In the hastily organized
Parties for oligarchs and clans (1994–2004)
During the Kuchma presidency (1994–2004) parties started to form around politicians who had achieved power; these parties were often a vehicle of Ukrainian oligarchs.[44][not specific enough to verify] Scholars defined several "Clans" in Ukrainian politics grouped around businessmen and politicians from particular Ukrainian mayor cities; the "Donetsk Clan" (Rinat Akhmetov, Viktor Yanukovych and Mykola Azarov), the "Dnipropetrovsk Clan" (Yulia Tymoshenko, Leonid Kuchma, Victor Pinchuk, Serhiy Tihipko and Pavlo Lazarenko), the "Kyiv Clan" (Viktor Medvedchuk and the Surkis brothers; this clan has also been linked to Zakarpattia) and the smaller "Kharkiv Clan".[45][46][47][48][49][22][50][51][52]
After the 2002 elections the Ukrainian parliament saw some consolidation of democratic political parties and the establishment of the main political camps in Ukraine: a coalition of nationally oriented deputies with the pro-European vector, a coalition of left-wing parties, and the pro-Russian parties coalition of the former Soviet
Mergers and bans (2011–present)
On 17 November 2011 the Ukrainian Parliament approved an election law that banned the participation of blocs of political parties in
On 15 June 2013
In preparation for the upcoming 2014 parliamentary elections, several ministers of the Fatherland party in the
On 20 March 2022, President
| Participating parties | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Election | Number | Threshold | Winners | |||||
| 1998 | 30 | 4% | 8 | |||||
| 2002 | 33 | 4% | 6 | |||||
| 2006 | 45 | 3% | 5 | |||||
| 2007 | 20 | 3% | 5 | |||||
| 2012 | 22 | 5% | 5 | |||||
| 2014 | 29 | 5% | 6 | |||||
| 2019 | 22 | 5% | 5 | |||||
Political parties in Parliament
| Seats won in parliamentary elections (since 1990, Chamber of Deputies or unicameral parliament) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | 1990 |
1994 | 1998 | 2002 | 2006 | 2007 | 2012 | 2014 | 2019 |
| Group of 239 (Communist Party of Ukraine, original) | 239 | ||||||||
| People's Movement of Ukraine (People's Council) | 125 | 20 | 46 | OU | OU | OU | – | – | – |
| Party of Democratic Revival of Ukraine (CPU Democratic Platform) | 41 | 4 | |||||||
| Democratic Union (DU–DPU) | DU–DPU | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| Democratic Party of Ukraine (DPU–PEV, DU–DPU) | 19 | 2 | 2 | 5 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Party of Economic Revival (DPU–PEV) | 1 | DPU–PEV | – | ||||||
| Communist Party of Ukraine | 86 | 122 | 65 | 21 | 27 | 32 | |||
| Socialist Party of Ukraine (SPU–SelPU) | 14 | 35 | 22 | 33 | – | – | – | – | |
| Peasant Party of Ukraine (SPU–SelPU) | 19 | SPU–SelPU | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | |
| National Front (NF) | 7 | ||||||||
| Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists | 5 | NF | OU | OU | – | – | – | – | |
| Ukrainian Conservative Republican Party | 2 | NF | |||||||
| Ukrainian Republican Party | 12 | 8 | NF | BYT | – | – | – | – | – |
Ukrainian National Assembly |
1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Party of Labor (PP–LPU) | 4 | 2 | |||||||
| Liberal Party of Ukraine (PP–LPU) | – | PP–LPU | OU | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Social Democratic Party of Ukraine | 2 | 75 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
Christian Democratic Party of Ukraine |
1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
Civil Congress of Ukraine (HKU–UPS) |
2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
Ukrainian Party of Justice (HKU–UPS) |
– | HKU–UPS | BU | – | – | – | – | – | |
| People's Democratic Party | 27 | Zayedu | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Party of Greens of Ukraine | – | 19 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Hromada | 23 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine | 17 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) | 17 | 27 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| People's Party (Agrarian Party of Ukraine, Lytvyn) | 7 | Zayedu | – | 20 | 2 | – | – | ||
| Strong Ukraine | – | – | – | 1 | – | ||||
| Reforms and Order Party (Our Ukraine) | 4 | OU | – | BYT | – | ||||
| Christian Democratic Union (CDU–UCDP) | 3 | OU | OU | OU | – | – | – | ||
| Ukrainian Christian Democratic Party (CDU–UCDP) | – | – | CDU–UCDP | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Viche | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Party of Regions (Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine) | 2 | Zayedu | 186 | 175 | 185 | – | – | ||
| All-Ukrainian Party of Workers | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Union | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | ||
| Social-National Party of Ukraine (SNPU–DNU) | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
State Independence of Ukraine (SNPU–DNU) |
– | – | SNPU–DNU | – | |||||
| Bloc "Our Ukraine" (OU) | 112 | 81 | 72 | ||||||
| Youth Party of Ukraine | OU | – | – | – | – | – | |||
Solidarity |
OU | – | – | – | – | – | |||
Forward, Ukraine! |
OU | – | OU | – | – | – | |||
| Republican Christian Party | OU | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| Ukrainian People's Party | OU | – | OU | – | – | – | |||
| For United Ukraine! (Zayedu) | 121 | ||||||||
| Labour Ukraine | Zayedu | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Ukraine | Zayedu | OU | – | – | – | – | |||
| Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (BYT) | 22 | 129 | 156 | ||||||
| Batkivshchyna | BYT | BYT | BYT | 101 | 19 | 26 | |||
Ukrainian Platform "Sobor" |
BYT | OU | OU | – | – | – | |||
| Ukraine – Forward! | BYT | BYT | BYT | – | – | – | |||
Party of National Economic Development of Ukraine |
– | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Ukrainian Marine Party | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Unity Bloc (BU) | 4 | ||||||||
Unity |
BU | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| Young Ukraine | – | – | – | BU | – | – | – | – | – |
| Social Democratic Union | BU | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| Our Ukraine | OU | OU | – | – | – | ||||
| European Party of Ukraine | OU | – | – | – | |||||
Pora! |
– | OU | – | – | – | ||||
| Motherland Defenders Party | – | – | OU | – | – | – | |||
| Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform (European Capital) | – | – | 40 | – | – | ||||
United Centre (Party of Private Property) |
– | – | – | 3 | – | 1 | |||
Radical Party of Oleh Lyashko (URDP) |
1 | 22 | – | ||||||
| Freedom | 1 | 1 | – | 37 | 6 | 1 | |||
| People's Front | 82 | – | |||||||
| European Solidarity | 132 | 25 | |||||||
| Self Reliance | 33 | 1 | |||||||
| Opposition Bloc | 29 | 6 | |||||||
Spade (People's Initiative) |
– | 1 | – | ||||||
Will |
– | 1 | – | ||||||
| Right Sector | 1 | – | |||||||
Servant of the People |
254 | ||||||||
| Opposition Platform — For Life | 43 | ||||||||
Voice |
20 | ||||||||
Independent |
6 | 168 | 105 | 66 | 43 | 96 | 46 | ||
See also
Notes
- Civil movement "Chesno" claims that 25 parties took part in a 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election by-election (in electoral district 179 located in Kharkiv Oblast on 15 March 2020) solely to avoid being liquidated.[3]
- ^ Some Ukrainian parties could not be clearly classified as belonging to one of these two major movements, they were either synthesising the ideas of the two camps and/or strove to position themselves as a balancing force; examples of these parties are Socialist Party of Ukraine, Lytvyn Bloc and Labour Ukraine.[20]
- ^ Ukrainian politicians have switched to parties that belong(ed) to another of these two major movements.[21]
References
- Central Election Commission of Ukraine
- ^ Reform Watch - Oct. 1, 2015, Kyiv Post (Oct. 2, 2015)
Rhinos, dill and hidden threats confuse voters in Kyiv, Kyiv Post (Oct. 2, 2015) - ^ a b c d e f (in Ukrainian) Non-partisan Ukraine, The Ukrainian Week (24 June 2020)
- European Union Democracy Observatory
- ^ Ukraine: Comprehensive Partnership for a Real Democracy, Center for International Private Enterprise, 2010
- ^ Poll: Ukrainians unhappy with domestic economic situation, their own lives, Kyiv Post (September 12, 2011)
- ^ (in Ukrainian) Сергій Одарич формуватиме більшість у міськраді Черкас Archived March 10, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Cherkasy city council website (November 8, 2010)
- ^ (in Ukrainian) Мером Львова обрано Андрія Садового Archived July 21, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, ЛьвівNEWS (November , 2010)
- ^ (in Ukrainian) На виборах мера Полтави переміг Олександр Мамай Archived November 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Дзеркало тижня (November 6, 2010)
- ^ (in Ukrainian) Официальные результаты голосования по выборам в Севастопольский городской совет Archived July 21, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, SevNews (November 5, 2010)
- ^ a b Parliament passes law on parliamentary elections, Kyiv Post (November 17, 2011)
- ^ Opinion poll: Do you trust political parties? Archived July 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine (recurrent, 2001–2009, by Razumkov Centre)
- Ukrayinska Pravda(19 May 2014)
- ^ Ukraine’s oligarchs jostle for influence with President Zelensky, Financial Times (19 February 2020)
- OSCE(9 October 2015)
- ^ Civil movement "Chesno"(13 October 2020) (in Ukrainian)
- ^ a b Ukraine's Local Elections: New law, old problems Archived October 25, 2015, at the Wayback Machine by Melanie Mierzejewski-Voznyak, New Eastern Europe (22 October 2015)
- ^ Hacked PR documents accelerate political war, Kyiv Post (11 January 2013)
- ^ The register can be found online at rgf.minjust.gov.ua
- ^ a b Ukraine's Party System in Transition? The Rise of the Radically Right-Wing All-Ukrainian Association "Svoboda" by Andreas Umland, Centre for Geopolitical Studies (1 May 2011)
- Ukrayinska Pravda(23 October 2015)
- ^ ISBN 978-3-525-36912-8(page 383 and 396)
- ^ openDemocracy.net(January 3, 2011)
- ^ Pro-Russian bloc leads in Ukraine, BBC News (March 26, 2006)
- ISBN 1851099077 (page 1629)9n3ttj8uhtjuyjmn huh43g5 gtgjrgutihwerthrbgth5erghbthe boy gruh4rlthihwesrjgjn gjcjhkhjhkrgjkht.kjthkhnbhkrybjniolvctukch i porn hude lia+Tymoshenko&pg=PA122 Ukraine on its Meandering Path Between East and West] by
[https://books.google.com/books?id=cQqr7f9QkngC&dq=national+democrats+Our+Ukraine+Blocs+and+Bloc+Yuiubhyiuh4huyhj4njiqoi32gh7ioygijeISBN 303911607X(page 122) - ^ After the parliamentary elections in Ukraine: a tough victory for the Party of Regions Archived March 17, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Centre for Eastern Studies (7 November 2012)
- ^ ISBN 978-3-525-36912-8(page 396)
- ^ Party of Regions gets 185 seats in Ukrainian parliament, Batkivschyna 101 - CEC, Interfax-Ukraine (12 November 2012)
UDAR submits to Rada resolution on Ukraine’s integration with EU, Interfax-Ukraine (8 January 2013) - ^ (in Ukrainian) Electronic Bulletin "Your Choice - 2012". Issue 4: Batkivshchyna Archived December 3, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research (24 October 2012)
- ^ ITAR-TASS(September 15, 2014)
- ^ Poroshenko Bloc to have greatest number of seats in parliament Archived November 10, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, Ukrainian Television and Radio (8 November 2014)
People's Front 0.33% ahead of Poroshenko Bloc with all ballots counted in Ukraine elections - CEC Archived November 12, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, Interfax-Ukraine (8 November 2014)
Poroshenko Bloc to get 132 seats in parliament - CEC, Interfax-Ukraine (8 November 2014) - (2 October 2015)
- The Jamestown Foundation (17 October 2012)(5 October 2007)
UKRAINE: Yushchenko needs Tymoshenko as ally again Archived May 15, 2013, at the Wayback Machine by Taras Kuzio, Oxford Analytica - ^ Partisan-political structure Archived November 7, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Analitik. 1999
- ISBN 978-90-5629-631-5(page 82)
- ISBN 978-0-7656-1811-5(page 189)
- ^ Former German Ambassador Studemann views superiority of personality factor as fundamental defect of Ukrainian politics, Kyiv Post (December 21, 2009)
- ^ Ukrainian Ministry of Justice
- ^ Three new political parties registered in Ukraine, 172 in total, says Justice Ministry, Interfax-Ukraine (July 15, 2009)
- ^ Justice Ministry registers 179th party in Ukraine – For Fairness and Prosperity, Kyiv Post (May 14, 2010)
- ^ Justice Ministry registers Your Ukraine Party, Kyiv Post (May 5, 2010)
- ^ Youth into Power party registered, Kyiv Post (July 2, 2010)
- ^ Lavrynovych: Court cancels registration certificates of five Ukrainian parties, Kyiv Post (November 29, 2011)
- ^ ISBN 978-1-84511-035-2(page 45)
- ISBN 978-963-7326-99-8(page 189)
- ISBN 978-1-56324-676-0(page 829)
- ISBN 978-1-85567-465-3(page 36)
- ISBN 978-0-88132-427-3
- ISBN 978-0-8157-7159-3(page 146)
- ISBN 978-0-521-14522-0(page 110)
- ISBN 978-0-7546-4334-0(page 129)
- ^ Ukraine:Challenges of the Continuing Transition Archived July 21, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, National Intelligence Council (Conference Report August 1999)
- Ukrayinska Pravda(December 18, 2011)
- ^ Tymoshenko, Lutsenko aware of their parties' unification, Kyiv Post (December 29, 2011)
- Ukrayinska Pravda(December 3, 2011)
- ^ Tigipko hooks up with Party of Regions, Kyiv Post (March 20, 2012)
Strong Ukraine party decides on disbanding to join Regions Party, Kyiv Post (March 17, 2012) - Den (newspaper)(24 April 2012)
- Ukrayinska Pravda (7 April 2012)(7 April 2012)
Yatseniuk wants to meet with Tymoshenko to discuss reunion of opposition, Kyiv Post - Ukrayinska Pravda(23 April 2012)
- ^ Civil Position party joins Ukraine's united opposition, Kyiv Post (20 June 2012)
- Den(2 August 2012)
- ^ They Call Themselves the Opposition, The Ukrainian Week (31 August 2012)
- Ukrayinska Pravda(11 November 2012)
- ^ Sobolev: Front for Change and Reform and Order Party to join Batkivschyna, Interfax-Ukraine (11 June 2013)
Front for Change, Reforms and Order to dissolve for merger with Batkivshchyna - Sobolev, Ukrinform (11 June 2013)) - ^ Ukraine-Russia relations didn’t get any better, ex-Foreign Minister Borys Tarasiuk says, z i k (February 5, 2011)
- ^ Ukrainian People's Party, People's Movement Of Ukraine Decide Unite Into Rukh, Elect Kuibida Its Leader Archived January 21, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, Ukrainian News Agency (19 May 2013)
- ^ Batkivschyna, Front for Change, Reform and Order Party, part of NRU unite for victory – Tymoshenko’s address to congress, Interfax-Ukraine (15 June 2013)
- ^ Tymoshenko re-elected Batkivshchyna leader, Yatseniuk council chair, Ukrinform (15 June 2013)
- ^ Yatseniuk heads People's Front Party, Ukrinform (10 September 2014)
Jatzenjuk an die Spitze der Partei „Volksfront“ gestellt, Ukrinform (10 September 2014) - Hromadske.TV(10 September 2014)
- ^ Klitschko becomes leader of Petro Poroshenko Bloc 'Solidarity' party, Interfax-Ukraine (28 August 2015)
- ^ "NSDC bans pro-Russian parties in Ukraine". ukrinform. March 20, 2022. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
External links
