Opposition Bloc

Opposition Bloc
Leader Yuriy Boyko
Founded April 23, 2010
Merger of Party of Development of Ukraine, All-Ukrainian Union "Center", Ukraine – Forward!, Labour Ukraine, New Politic, "State Neutrality"
Preceded by Party "Leading Force", (former members of Party of Regions)
Headquarters Kiev
Ideology Social liberalism,
Pro-Russia[1]
Regionalism
Soft Euroscepticism
European affiliation None
International affiliation None
Colours           Blue, White
Verkhovna Rada
44 / 450
Regions (2015)[2]
4,091 / 158,399
Website
opposition.org.ua

Opposition Bloc (Ukrainian: Опозиційний блок) is a Ukrainian political party that was founded in 2014 as 6 parties that did not endorse Euromaidan merged.[3][4] In the 2014 election it won 29 seats.[5]

American lobbyist Paul Manafort was instrumental in creating the party.[6]

History

Party "Leading force"

The party was registered at the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice on 23 April 2010 as "Leading force" (Ukrainian: Ведуча сила).[7] The party was the led by Anatoly Kornienko.[7]

The party did not participate in the 2012 parliamentary elections.[8]

2014 parliamentary elections and since

Opposition Bloc support (% of the votes cast) in different regions of Ukraine (in the 2014 election).
Opposition Bloc support (% of the votes cast) by district

In September 2014 American lobbyist Paul Manafort was hired as an advisor to (former Manafort client) Viktor Yanukovych’s former head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine Serhiy Lyovochkin.[6] Manafort was tasked with rebranding Party of Regions.[6] Instead, he argued to help stabilize Ukraine, Manafort adviced to create a new political party called Opposition Bloc.[6] According to Ukrainian political analyst Mikhail Pogrebinsky “He thought to gather the largest number of people opposed to the current government, you needed to avoid anything concrete, and just become a symbol of being opposed".[6]

It was planned that the biggest party in the previous 2012 parliamentary elections, Party of Regions, would be part of the Opposition Bloc in the 2014 parliamentary elections.[9] This alliance was to be led by Serhiy Tihipko.[9] But he refused to do so because in his opinion in this alliance there were "people tainted by corruption and to put it mildly, unpatriotic".[9] Tihipko then became leader of (the revived) Strong Ukraine.[9]

On 14 September 2014, the Party of Regions choose not to participate in the elections; it deemed the election lacking legitimacy because the residents of the Donbass could not vote in the election.[9][10] Also on 14 September 2014, a forum took place in Kiev with the banner "Peace. Stability. Revival", at the end of which Party of Development of Ukraine, Center All-Ukrainian Union, Ukraine – Forward!, Labour Ukraine, New Politic and "State neutrality" decided to take part in the 2014 parliamentary elections as Opposition Bloc.[4] Many individual members of Party of Regions ended up as candidates of Opposition Bloc.[3][9] Among them Yuriy Boyko, who headed the party's election list.[3][9] Other main figures on this election list are Natalia Korolevska, Mykhailo Dobkin and Vadim Rabinovich.[3][9] In September 2014 Boyko argued that Opposition Bloc does not represent parties, but consisted only of individual politicians.[3] Boyko, Dobkin and Rabinovich all took part in the 2014 Ukrainian presidential election.[9] In which they scored 0.19%, 3.03% and 2.25%.[11] Korolevska and Boyko were both ministers in the second Azarov Government.[12] Serhiy Lyovochkin was also a candidate of the party.[13][14] Five members of Party of Regions were in the top 10 of the Opposition Bloc’s electoral list.[4]

The party won 29 seats; including the winning of 2 constituency seats.[5] It won 2 constituency seats but for the nationwide party lists of the election (53.2% of the seats was elected by a nationwide party lists and 46.8% in 198 constituencies[15][16][17]) the party gained most votes in all 14 constituencies in Kharkiv Oblast, all 6 constituencies[18] in Luhansk Oblast (were voting was possible[18]), 8 out of 9 in Zaporizhia Oblast (Petro Poroshenko Bloc winning the remaining constituency), in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast 10 out of 17 constituencies (Petro Poroshenko Bloc winning the remaining constituency), in Donetsk Oblast (were voting was possible[18]) 6 out of 11 constituencies (Petro Poroshenko Bloc winning the remaining 5 constituencies).[19] In Odessa Oblast 27 October preliminary result indicated that Petro Poroshenko Bloc had won 7 constituencies with the remaining 4 constituencies won by Opposition Bloc.[19] In Mykolaiv Oblast Petro Poroshenko Bloc seemed to be the clear winner with winning 5 constituencies while the remaining constituency won by Opposition Bloc.[19]

On 27 November 2014 an Opposition Bloc parliamentary faction of 40 people was formed (at the opening session of the new parliament).[20]

The party was one of the winners of the 2015 Ukrainian local elections.[21] It gained most (of all) votes South and East Ukraine (except of Kharkiv Oblast).[22][23]

In May 2016 Rabinovich left the party and its parliamentary faction after a request from his party Center All-Ukrainian Union.[24]

Ideology and stances

According to Tadeusz Olszański, of the Centre for Eastern Studies, the party's 2014 election programme was social-liberal and pro-Russophone.[1] The party's platform envisages protecting the status of Russian as a regional language.[4]

The party wants "maximum decentralization" for Ukraine.[4]

The party wants a non-aligned status for Ukraine and wants to prevent it from becoming a NATO member.[4]

In the War in Donbass the party advocated to end the conflict by peaceful means and by negotiating with Russia.[1][4] The party rejects the March 2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia and wants "peace in united Ukraine within the borders of 1991".[4]

Election Results

Verkhovna Rada

Year Popular vote % of popular vote Overall seats won Seat change Government
2014 1,478,406 9.40
29 / 450
 Increase 29 Opposition

See also

Ukraine
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Ukraine
Constitution

References

  1. 1 2 3 Olszański, Tadeusz A. (17 September 2014), Ukraine’s political parties at the start of the election campaign, OSW—Centre for Eastern Studies
  2. ↑ Кандидати, яких обрано депутатами рад. www.cvk.gov.ua (in Ukrainian). 15 November 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Opposition Bloc chooses top ten candidates for parliamentary elections, Interfax Ukraine (23 September 2014)
    Allies of Yanukovych trying for parliament, Kyiv Post (21 September 2014)
    Party Of Regions Will Not Contest Snap Parliamentary Elections Independently, Ukrainian News Agency (14 September 2014)
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Opposition Bloc boosts rating by distancing itself from Yanukovych era, Kyiv Post (Oct. 24, 2014)
    Development party of Ukraine, 'Ukraine - Forward!' and four more political forces team up in Opposition Bloc, Kyiv Post (Sept. 15, 2014)
    Ukraine’s Elections: The Battle of the Billionaires, The Daily Beast (10.25.14)
    (Ukrainian) Non-Maidan parties united into the Opposition Bloc. Radio Liberty. 14 September 2014
  5. 1 2 Poroshenko Bloc to have greatest number of seats in parliament, Ukrinform (8 November 2014)
    People's Front 0.33% ahead of Poroshenko Bloc with all ballots counted in Ukraine elections - CEC, Interfax-Ukraine (8 November 2014)
    Poroshenko Bloc to get 132 seats in parliament - CEC, Interfax-Ukraine (8 November 2014)
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "How Paul Manafort Wielded Power in Ukraine Before Advising Donald Trump". The New York Times. July 31, 2016. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  7. 1 2 (Ukrainian) In Ukraine registered 181st political party, Zaxid.net (2010)
    List of all Ukrainian political parties, Ukrainian Ministry of Justice
  8. ↑ (Ukrainian) Results of voting in single constituencies in 2012 & Nationwide list, Central Election Commission of Ukraine
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 (Ukrainian) What distinguishes the "opposition bloc" of the Party of Regions?, BBC Ukrainian (23 September 2014)
  10. ↑ Ukraine's Party of Regions Refuses to Participate in Rada Elections, RIA Novosti (23 September 2014)
  11. ↑ "Poroshenko wins presidential election with 54.7% of vote - CEC". Radio Ukraine International. 29 May 2014.
    (Russian) Results election of Ukrainian president, Телеграф (29 May 2014)
  12. ↑ Yanukovych appoints new Cabinet of Ministers, Kyiv Post (24 December 2012)
  13. ↑ Serhiy Lyovochkin: 'Conflicts of interest are everywhere', Kyiv Post (July 9, 2010)
    Lyovochkin resigns over draconian anti-democratic laws; others expected to quit soon, Kyiv Post (Jan. 17, 2014)
  14. ↑ Liovochkin running for MP from Opposition Bloc, Interfax Ukraine (24 September 2014)
  15. ↑ Parliamentary elections not to be held at nine constituencies in Donetsk region and six constituencies in Luhansk region - CEC, Interfax-Ukraine (25 October 2014)
  16. ↑ Parliament passes law on parliamentary elections, Kyiv Post (17 November 2011)
  17. ↑ (Ukrainian) Перший крок до зриву виборів, Ukrayinska Pravda (9 April 2012)
  18. 1 2 3 Only in six constituencies of Donetsk region and one constituency in Luhansk region voting to be at all polling stations, says CEC, Interfax-Ukraine (26 October 2014)
  19. 1 2 3 Kharkiv, Luhansk, Zaporizhia regions prefer Opposition Bloc, Interfax-Ukraine (27.10.2014)
  20. ↑ (Ukrainian) In Parliament created a faction, Ukrayinska Pravda (27 November 2014)
  21. ↑ Poroshenko Bloc, Batkivschyna, Nash Kray get largest number of seats in local councils – Ukrainian Voters Committee, Interfax-Ukraine (12 November 2015)
  22. ↑ Why a 'Star Wars' Emperor Won Office in Ukraine, Bloomberg News (26 October 2015)
    Exit Polls Show Ukraine Divided For, Against Poroshenko Rule, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (27 October 2015)
    After Ukraine’s Local Elections: Early Misinterpretations, Carnegie Europe (27 October 2015)
    Poroshenko hobbles on, Politico Europe (26 October 2015)
    Week’s milestones. Elections to be continued, blackmail in Minsk, and emotional lustration, UNIAN (27 October 2015)
  23. ↑ www.cvk.gov.ua (Ukrainian)
  24. ↑ http://ukropnews24.com/from-the-opposition-bloc-goes-rabinovich/
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