Radical Party of Oleh Liashko
Radical Party of Oleh Liashko Радикальна партія Олега Ляшка | |
---|---|
Soft Euroscepticism[5] | |
Political position | Left-wing[6] |
Colours | Red |
Verkhovna Rada[7] | 0 / 450 |
Regions[8] | 582 / 43,122 |
Website | |
liashko | |
The Radical Party of Oleh Liashko (Ukrainian: Радикальна партія Олега Ляшка, romanized: Radykal'na partiia Oleha Liashka, RPOL)[1] and formerly known as the Ukrainian Radical-Democratic Party (Ukrainian: Українська демократично-радикальна партія), is a political party in Ukraine[9] that was registered in September 2010.[1] It was primarily known for its radical populism, especially in the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election when it gained its largest support.[10]
At the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, the party had won 1 seat.[11] The party won 22 seats at the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election.[12][13] In the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election it lost all those seats.[14]
History
Ukrainian Radical-Democratic Party
The party was established at the founding congress in
Radical Party of Oleh Liashko
During its third party congress on 8 August 2011, Oleh Liashko was elected the new party leader.[15] The same day, the party changed its name to the Radical Party of Oleh Liashko.[16]
At the
According to political scientist Tadeusz A. Olszański, in mid-September 2014 the party was "a typical one-man party, centred around Oleh Liashko; its real organisational potential remains a mystery".
On 21 November 2014, the party became a member of the coalition supporting the
On 3 June 2015, the parliament stripped the party's MP Serhii Melnychuk of his parliamentary prosecutorial immunity rights as he was accused of forming a criminal gang, abductings and threatening people.[25]
The Radical Party left the second Yatsenyuk government coalition on 1 September 2015 in protest over a vote in parliament involving a change to the
In the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election the party lost all its parliamentary seats, it gained about 1% too little to clear the 5% election threshold and also did not win an electoral district seat.[14] The party had participated in 65 single-mandate majority electoral districts.[28]
In the 2020 Ukrainian local elections 535 people won seats in local councils on behalf of the party, that is about 1.62% of the available seats.[29]
Ideology and stances
Observers had defined the party as
Liashko and his party combine radically left-wing economical stances with authoritarian and nationalist outlook on society. The party promotes the concept of a state as an active, authoritarian regulator of both the society and economy. The party supports extensive social welfare, protectionism as a way to support domestic industries, generous agricultural grants and implementation of state control on prices. One of the iconic proposals of the party is for the state to pay at least 5.000 hryvnias to every farmer for every cow owned, and to compensate 50% of farming equipment cost.[53] The ideological foundation of the party was described as left social populism with paternalistic qualities; in its program, the party asserts" “The purpose of the Radical Party – a society of equal opportunities and welfare.” Similarly, the party also states the “protection of the disadvantaged” as its overarching goal.[54]
The party has promised to purify the country of oligarchs "with a pitchfork".[55] It has proposed higher taxes on products manufactured by oligarchs and a crisis tax on the latter.[48] The party was described as presenting "left-wing, anti-oligarch economic policies previously associated with the Communist Party"; the similarity with the banned Communist Party is also similar because of the Radical Party's oppositional stance towards EU integration. Paul Chaisty and Stephen Whitefield noted that the party "took the same position as voters of right-wing and nationalist parties on the question of EU integration, suggesting no significant realignment of Communist voters in the East".[41]
The party wants to
Amongst the proposals of the party is to ban Russophile parties such as the Communist Party of Ukraine and the Party of Regions.[56] Despite its anti-Russian positions, the party also supports localism and regional decentralization, arguing for the need to extend the authority of local governments.[57]
Party leader Liashko had stressed in May 2011 he had nothing against sexual minorities.
Polish observers compared the Radical Party of Olesh Liashko to Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland (Polish: Samoobrona Rzeczpospolitej Polski).[60] Samoobrona is a far-left[61] Polish political party that was described as radical,[62] left-wing populist,[63] and agrarian socialist.[64] Two parties share many similarities, such as their staunchly nationalist, agrarian and left-wing populists positions, as well as controversial forms of protest.[60]
Party leaders
- Vladyslav Telipko (2010–2011)
- Oleh Liashko (2011–present)
Election results
Verkhovna Rada
Year | Popular vote | % of popular vote | Overall seats won | Seat change | Government |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2012 | 221,136 | 1.08 | 1 / 450
|
1 | Opposition |
2014 | 1,171,697 | 7.45 | 22 / 450
|
21 | Coalition government (until 2015), Opposition (2015−19) |
2019 | 586,294 | 4.01 | 0 / 450
|
22 | Extra-parliamentary |
Presidential elections
Election year | Candidate | No. of 1st round votes | % of 1st round vote | No. of 2nd round votes | % of 2nd round vote |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | Oleh Liashko | 1,500,377 | 8.32 | ||
2019 | Oleh Liashko | 1,036,003 | 5.48 |
See also
References
- Tadeusz A. Olszański (17 September 2014). "Ukraine's political parties at the start of the election campaign". OSW: Centre for Eastern Studies. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
- "Ukraine MP injured in 'assassination attempt'". BBC News. 2017-10-25. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
- "End Of The Orange-Blue Divide: Ukraine Vote May Produce New Political Landscape". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
Thus, the representative of the left forces, the leader of the Radical Party Oleg Lyashko, positioning himself as a "people's" president, in essence, hinted at the establishment of an authoritarian regime: "Lyashko will be in Ukraine like Lukashenka in Belarus. Everyone will fly like a thorny broom".
"New Verkhovna Rada". Kyiv Post. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
"People's Front 0.33% ahead of Poroshenko Bloc with all ballots counted in Ukraine elections - CEC". Interfax-Ukraine. 8 November 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
"Poroshenko Bloc to get 132 seats in parliament - CEC". Interfax-Ukraine. 8 November 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
"Ukraine's parliamentary parties initial coalition agreement". Interfax-Ukraine. 21 November 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
A feature of the post-Soviet landscape is that radical left-wing quasi-populist forces have been as prevalent (perhaps more so) than those of the right. This is unsurprising, since across Europe, the post-Soviet radical left has become more populist, acting no longer as the vanguard of a (now diminished) proletariat but as the vox populi (e.g. March, 2011). Whereas many left-wing parties retain a strong socialist ideological core, there are other social populists whose populism has become a more systematic element of their ideological appeal. Lyashko (who came third in the 2014 presidential elections) represents a less ideological, but more incendiary, macho, and media-astute populism akin to a "radio shock jock" (e.g. Kozloff, 2015). He supports a folksy, peasant-based populism focusing on anti-corruption and higher taxes on the oligarchs.
The analysis of party programmes in terms of their socio-economic policy made it possible to identify the following parties that may enter the new Parliament: four clearly leftist parties (the Radical Party, For Life, the Opposition Bloc and "Batkivshchyna"), one left-ofcentre ("Svoboda"), one conditionally centrist (Servant of the People) and three right-of-centre parties (the Civic Position, "Samopomich" Union, and Petro Poroshenko Bloc).
External links
- Media related to Radical Party of Oleh Liashko at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website (in Ukrainian)