Party of Regions Партія регіонів Партия регионов | |
|---|---|
.svg){kind=logo} | |
| Leader | Collective leadership[1][2] |
| Executive secretary | Borys Kolesnikov[3][4] |
| Founders | Mykola Azarov Yukhym Zvyahilsky Volodymyr Rybak |
| Founded | 26 October 1997 (28 years, 30 days) |
| Banned | 21 February 2023 (2 years, 277 days) |
| Succeeded by | Opposition Bloc (mainly) |
| Headquarters | Kyiv |
| Newspaper | Vremya Regionov |
| Youth wing | Young Regions |
| Ideology | Social democracy[5][6] Regionalism[7][8] Russophilia[9] Euroscepticism[10][7] Catch-all party[11][12][13] |
| Political position | Centre-left[14][15][16][17] |
| National affiliation | For United Ukraine! (until 2002) |
| European affiliation | Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (Cooperation, until 2014) |
| Oligarch association | Donetsk Clan[18] |
| Colours | Blue and White [19][20][21][22] |
| Slogan | Strong regions, strong country, rich people! (Russian:«Сильные регионы, крепкая страна, богатые люди!») (Ukrainian:«Сильні регіони, міцна країна, багаті люди!») |
| Verkhovna Rada (2012) | 185 / 450 |
| Regions (2010) | 1,587 / 3,056 |
| Party flag | |
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| Website | |
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TheParty of Regions (Ukrainian:Партія регіонів,romanized: Partiia rehioniv,pronounced[ˈpɑrt⁽ʲ⁾ijɐreɦiˈɔn⁽ʲ⁾iu̯];Russian:Партия регионов,romanized: Partiya regionov) was apro-Russian[23][24]political party inUkraine formed in late 1997 that used to be the largest party in Ukraine between 2006 and 2014.
Since theRevolution of Dignity, the party has not competed in elections and members have slowly dispersed; the last election in which the party participated was the2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election.[25][26] The best-known former party members are formerprime ministerMykola Azarov and formerpresident of UkraineViktor Yanukovych;[27] both fled toRussia in February 2014 afterEuromaidan.[28]
The Ukrainian Eighth Administrative Court of Appeal banned the party on 21 February 2023.[29]
The founding congress of the Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine (the predecessor of the Party of Regions) was held on 26 October 1997 inKyiv.[30] The first leader of the party was mayor ofDonetsk,Volodymyr Rybak.[30] On 6 November 1997, the Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine was registered at the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice,[31] and on the 27th of that month the 1st Party Congress took place, which adopted the electoral party list and platform for the next elections. On 13 January 1998, a parliamentary faction was created in theparliament of Ukraine. It was known as the Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine and was headed byGennadiy Samofalov.[citation needed]
During the1998 parliamentary elections, the Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine won 0.90% of the votes.[31] A single party representative was elected to theUkrainian Parliament by winning one constituency in the regular elections.[30] The party was among the top 10 inChernivtsi andDonetsk Oblasts.Volodymyr Rybak was the winner of constituency number 45 in Donetsk Oblast.[32]
During the 2nd Party Congress that took place in two stages during the spring of 1999, the party decided to support candidateLeonid Kuchma for the next presidential elections. It was recommended[clarification needed] that the candidate should include in his election campaign some of the Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine's policy proposals, including one on granting theRussian language official status. In the summer of 1999, the party entered the "Our choice – Leonid Kuchma" electoral bloc, consisting of 23 parties and led byYevhen Kushnaryov, who endorsed incumbentpresidentLeonid Kuchma in thepresidential election of 1999.[30]
On 17 November 2000, the 3rd Extraordinary Party Congress adopted the merger of five political parties,For Beautiful Ukraine (led byLeonid Chernovetsky),All-Ukrainian Party of Pensioners (A. Kapusta),Party of Labor (Valentyn Landyk),Party of Solidarity of Ukraine (Petro Poroshenko), and Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine (Volodymyr Rybak), into a new one under the name of Party of Regional Revival "Labor Solidarity of Ukraine". The co-leaders of the new political group becameValentyn Landyk,Petro Poroshenko, andVolodymyr Rybak. Also, shortly before the merger, theParty of Solidarity of Ukraine was completely abandoned by one of its key components, thePeasant Party of Ukraine, which dissolved its union with Solidarity. On February 21, 2001, theMinistry of Justice registered the newly established Party of Regional Revival "Labour Solidarity of Ukraine".[citation needed]
On March 3, 2001, at the 3rd Party Congress, the party changed its name to Party of Regions.[citation needed] At the congressMykola Azarov, who at that time was chairman of theState Tax Administration of Ukraine, was elected the party leader but soon resigned in December 2001.[33] Azarov was replaced by his deputy and at that time Vice Prime MinisterVolodymyr Semynozhenko.[34] In an interview with the newspaperDen (Ukrainian:День) on 6 March 2001, Azarov said that he agreed to become the chairman for a brief period "until the party nominated a leader who will claim the office of the President of Ukraine in 2004".[35] In December 2001 the Party of Regions member Ihor Yushchko was appointed Minister of Finance of Ukraine.[34] On 21 March 2001, theMinistry of Justice re-registered the party under the number 939 with the older date of registration.[clarification needed]
On 23 May 2001, the party signed an agreement of partnership and cooperation with the partyLabour Ukraine (Serhiy Tihipko), and on 7 June 2001, with theAgrarian Party of Ukraine.[citation needed]
"Regions of Ukraine" was the parliamentary wing of the Party of Regions and was created at the end of March 2001[34] after several deputies defected from their original faction. Critics claimed the deputies were "lured away" from those other factions by pressure, and analysts claimed most of them had nothing to do with the new party.[35] Nine out of seventeen members of the faction had their political and business roots in theDonetsk region.[34] In July 2002 the party had a faction of 24 people (one deputy left the faction later).[36]
On 20 March 2001, Solidarity announced it would "be as a single bloc".[35] Eventually the Solidarity party became part of theViktor Yushchenko Bloc Our Ukraine during the 2002 parliamentary elections.[37]
During theUkrainian parliamentary election the party was a member of theFor United Ukraineelectoral bloc.[31][38] It was then led byVolodymyr Semynozhenko.[39]
From 21 November 2002 until 7 December 2004,Viktor Yanukovych wasPrime Minister of Ukraine. At a congress held on 19 April 2003, Yanukovych was elected party leader, succeeding Semynozhenko.[40] At that time, the party had 20 seats in parliament.[41]
The party shifted its political ideology to theleft and became much morepopulist in nature before the2004 Ukrainian presidential election and, as a result, Yanukovych won over a large part of theCommunist party's electorate in eastern Ukraine.[citation needed] The party's stated platform included makingRussian a secondofficial language in Ukraine, moving towards a pro-Russian foreign policy, and increasing social spending. It also advocated a regionalist ideology, and many members supported making Ukraine afederation.[citation needed]
The Party of Regions moved into opposition after Viktor Yanukovych, its chosen candidate, lost the 2004 presidential election. Yanukovych first claimed an electoral victory, but strong allegations ofelectoral fraud triggered a series of events commonly known as theOrange Revolution. In the re-run of the presidential election ordered by the country'sSupreme Court, Viktor Yanukovych lost the election toViktor Yushchenko.[citation needed]
The Party claimed to be a victim of a political persecution campaign organized by the new government, in part becauseBorys Kolesnykov, the head of the regional party branch and of theDonetsk Oblast Council, was arrested in April 2005 and charged with criminal extortion.[42] The Party of Regions claimed this was an act of political repression, while the authorities believed that Kolesnykov had links toorganized crime and his arrest was a purely criminal matter. TheCouncil of Europe called the investigation "in full compliance with European standards".[43] Kolesnykov has since been cleared of charges and released from pre-trial detention.[44][needs context]
The party signed a collaboration agreement in 2005 withRussia's "United Russia".[45]
American consultantPaul J. Manafort has advised the party and Yanukovych since 2005.[46][47][needs update]
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In theparliamentary elections held on 26 March 2006, the party gained 32.14%[31] of votes and won 186 (out of 450) seats in theVerkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian Parliament), forming the largest parliamentary group. On 6 July 2006, theSocialist Party of Ukraine abandoned the "Orange Coalition" betweenOur Ukraine and theYulia Tymoshenko Bloc following the failure of each bloc to reach agreement on the formation of a governing coalition.[citation needed]
On 10 July 2006, a new parliamentary majority called the "anti-crisis coalition", led by the Party of Regions and including the Socialist Party and theCommunist Party, was formed, nominatingViktor Yanukovych to the post of prime minister.[citation needed] The coalition remained in office until thespecial parliamentary elections held in September 2007.[citation needed]
In the2006 Crimean parliamentary election, the Party of Regions was part of theFor Yanukovych!election bloc.[48]
On 19 January 2007,Yevhen Kushnaryov, a high-ranking member of the Party of Regions, died inIzium as a result of an accidental gunshot wound received while hunting.[citation needed]
In mid-2007, theUkrainian Republican Party andLabour Ukraine merged into and became part of the Party of Regions.[49]
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In theparliamentary elections held on 30 September 2007, the party won 175 seats (losing 11 seats) out of 450 seats with 34.37% of the total national vote.[31] The party received the highest number of votes, with a swing of +2.23% in comparison to the 2006 vote.
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Following the formation of a governing coalition between Our Ukraine and theYulia Tymoshenko Bloc and the election ofYulia Tymoshenko as prime minister on 18 December 2007, the Party of Regions formed the parliamentary opposition.[citation needed]
On 13 March 2009, Victor Yanukovych stated the Party of Regions was ready to unite into a coalition with its archrivals[50][51] theYulia Tymoshenko Bloc (BYuT). He noted: "We are ready to unite, but only on the base of the program on struggle with crisis".[52] The previous day, the deputy leader of the Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko faction, Andriy Portnov, said that the union of his political force with the Party of Regions was highly improbable, but that it could be possible after thenext Ukrainian presidential elections.[53]Prime MinisterYulia Tymoshenko stated on 17 March 2009 that her bloc was ready to join efforts with the Party of Regions to pass certain bills in theUkrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada). Tymoshenko said,[to whom?] "You are a representative of the Regions Party, [and] I represent the BYuT. It's time to join efforts for the benefit of the country."[54] On 30 March 2009, Victor Yanukovych stated he did not believe in the possibility of forming a coalition with the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc in the current parliament. At the same time, he added that "it would be necessary to agree on main issues" concerning amendments to theConstitution of Ukraine involving local self-government reform, judicial reform and clear division of authority among President, government and parliament.[55] According to Yanukovych, talks with the BYuT were still ongoing in late May 2008.[56]
In early June talks to build anational unity government to address theeconomic crisis collapsed, and Yulia Tymoshenko accused Yanukovych of betrayal, saying: "He unilaterally, without warning anyone, quit the negotiation process, making a loud political statement, killing the merger and the chances for Ukraine."[57]
In September 2009Member of Parliament Vasyl Kiselev was expelled from the party and the political council of the Party of Regions. Kiselev was expelled "for violation of provisions and demands of the charter of the Party of Regions and harming the reputation of the party."[58]
In September 2009Mykola Azarov announced the creation of theAnti-Fascist Forum of Ukraine, the chairmen of which were Dmytro Shentsev (member of parliament forKharkiv) and the head of the Luhansk Region State Administration, Valeriy Holenko.[59][60][relevant?]
The Party of Regions endorsed Viktor Yanukovych as their candidate for the2010 presidential election.[61] The party intended to create a new coalition in theVerkhovna Rada and form a newgovernment if Yanukovych won the 2010 presidential elections.[62] Yanukovych was electedPresident of Ukraine on 7 February 2010.[63][64] On 19 February theUkrainian parliament terminated the powers of UkrainianMember of Parliament (MP) Yanukovych, in his place #179 on the electoral list of the Party of Regions at the2007 early parliamentary elections.[clarification needed] Tamara Yehorenko was registered as an MP by theCentral Election Commission of Ukraine on 26 February.[65] On 3 March, Ukrainian President Yanukovych suspended his membership in the Party — Yanukovych was barred by theConstitution from heading a political party[66] — and handed over leadership in the party and in the parliamentary faction toMykola Azarov.[40] Nine days later Azarov handed it to Oleksandr Yefremov. On 11 March 2010, together withBloc Lytvyn andCommunist Party of Ukraine, the party joined thefirst Azarov Government.[67] The Party of Regions elected Azarov as its new Chairman at its 12th congress on 23 April 2010.[66][68][27]
Seven extra deputies (four of whom wereBloc Yulia Tymoshenko (BYuT) members) joined the Party of Regions faction in October 2010.[69][70] In March 2011 five more former BYuT deputies joined the faction.[71][72] By late November 2012 the Party of Regions faction consisted of 195 lawmakers (20 more than the 175 elected in September 2007).[31][69]
During the2010 Ukrainian local elections, the party won majorities on most regional and city councils as well as most of the mayoralties (except in Western Ukraine), and in the2010 Crimean parliamentary election (where it won over 70% of the seats).[73] It was the only party that won representatives in allUkrainian oblasts where elections were held, and it won the most votes in all but four of those oblasts (the four oblasts where it did not were situated inWestern Ukraine).[74] InCrimea, particularly in 2010–2014, the Party of Regions was nicknamed "Makedonians" because the Crimean Prime MinistersVasyl Dzharty andAnatolii Mohyliov were associated with the "Makiivka-Donetsk clan."[75]
In September 2010, the party was planning to sign a memorandum on cooperation withChina'sCommunist Party.[76]On 14 October 2010, the Party of Regions formed a cooperative arrangement with theSocialists and DemocratsEuropean parliamentary group.[77][78]
During Yanukovych's presidency, both he and the Party of Regions were accused of trying to create a "controlled democracy" in Ukraine and of trying to "destroy" the main opposition partyBYuT to do so, but both denied those charges.[79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86][87][88]
In August 2011Strong Ukraine andPeople's Party announced that both parties aimed to merge with the Party of Regions.[89][90][91][92] The merger between People's Party and Party of Regions did not materialise,[93] but Strong Ukraine and Party of Regions merged on 17 March 2012.[94] Former Strong Ukraine leaderSerhiy Tyhypko was unanimously elected Party of Regions deputy chairman and member of the Party of Regions political council the same day.[95] Party of RegionsparliamentarianOlena Bondarenko had stated in early March 2012 that Party of Regions, Strong Ukraine party and "another party" planned to hold a unity congress on 17 March.[96] No additional third party merged with the Party of Regions on 17 March 2012; according to Ukrainian media Tyhypko had personally prevented a merger ofUnited Centre with the Party of Regions in March 2012.[97]
In October 2011 a cooperation agreement was signed inAstana between theKazakhstaniNur Otan and the Party of Regions.[98]
In late 2011, the party's popularity dropped in opinion polls below 20%, mainly because the party was losing votes to theCommunist Party of Ukraine.[99][100][101][102]
In April 2012, the top PR consultancyBurson-Marsteller was hired to represent the interests of the Party of Regions, "to help them communicate its activities as the governing party of Ukraine, as well as to help it explain better its position on theYulia Tymoshenko case", as explained by Robert Mack, a senior manager at Burson-Marsteller.[103]
In theOctober 2012 parliamentary elections the party won 72 seats and 30% of the votes underparty-list proportional representation (falling from 34% in2007 and 32% in2006)[104] and another 115 by winning 115 simple-majority constituencies (it had competed in 204 of the 225 constituencies);[105] this sum gave them a total of 187 seats and 41.56% of the 450 seats in theUkrainian Parliament.[106] The party had lost about 2 million voters compared with theprevious election.[107] On 12 December 2012 the party formed aparliamentary faction of 210 deputies.[108]
At least 18 Party of Regions deputies have criminal ties, according toHennadiy Moskal, deputy head of Parliament's Committee on Organized Crime and Corruption.[109]
In June 2013, 148people's deputies of Ukraine signed aletter to thePolish Sejm asking to recognize theVolhynian tragedy as a genocide. A total of 119 of those parliamentarians were members of Party of Regions, while other 23 were from theCommunist Party of Ukraine.[citation needed]
From November 2013, protests against Yanukovych's rule evolved into the largest democratic mass movement in Europe since 1989,[110] known asEuromaidan[111] which led to theRevolution of Dignity. Two main goals of Euromaidan were the removal of President Yanukovych[112] and the calling ofsnap elections.[113] In late January 2014, the party's symbol and activities were banned in theChernivtsi,[114]Ternopil, andIvano-Frankivsk regions,[115][116] although there was no legal basis for these bans, since in Ukraine only a court can ban the activities of a political force.[117] The Party of Regions faction inZhytomyr announced its dissolution on 19 February 2014.[118]
On 22 February 2014, theUkrainian parliament voted to impeach the honorary chairman of the Party of Regions, Viktor Yanukovych, as President of Ukraine.[119] Out of the 38 PoR deputies present, 36 voted in favor of ousting Yanukovych, while two did not take part in the vote.[120] Simultaneously, both Yanukovych and former Prime MinisterMykola Azarov fled toRussia.[28] In a written statement the next day, the party denounced Yanukovych, stating they "strongly condemn the criminal orders that led to human victims, an empty state treasury, huge debts, shame before the eyes of the Ukrainian people and the entire world."[121] On 24 February 2014, faction leaderOleksandr Yefremov declared that the party was moving into the opposition.[122] 77 of its MPs had left the faction in the preceding days.[122] On 25 February 2014,Anatoliy Kinakh and 32 other mostly former PoR deputies created the parliamentary factionEconomic Development.[69][123]
On 28 March 2014, Yanukovych asked the Party of Regions to exclude him.[124][clarification needed] The next day, at a party congress, the party nominatedMykhailo Dobkin as its presidential candidate for the2014 Ukrainian presidential election.[125] The congress expelled many former leaders from the party including Yanukovych, Azarov, former First Deputy Prime MinisterSerhiy Arbuzov, ex-chairman of the Ministry of Revenue and DutiesOlexander Klimenko, former Energy MinisterEduard Stavitskyi, ex-governor of the Donetsk regionAndrew Shishatskiy, andValery Konovalyuk.[2] On 7 April 2014, the political council of the party also expelledSergiy Tigipko,Oleh Tsariov, andYuriy Boiko from the party.[125]
Mykhailo Dobkin was the Party of Regions' candidate in thesnap presidential election of 25 May 2014, and received only 3 percent of the vote.[126]
On 3 June 2014, another twenty Party of Regions deputies left the party's parliamentary faction.[127] Including this change, the faction's strength was reduced from 210 deputies (at its highest point on 12 December 2012) to 80 deputies by 6 June 2014.[108][128][69] As a result, it became the second biggest faction in parliament after the 85 member-strongBatkivshchyna faction.[69] On 2 July 2014, the 32 member-strong new parliamentary factionFor Peace and Stability, composed mostly of former Party of Regions MPs, was formed.[129][130] In the following months many former members of the Party of Regions became objects of the so-called "trash bucket challenge", where Ukrainian officials dumped images of the former PoR members into garbage bins and other trash containers.[131]
On September 17, 2014, amidst the ongoingwar in Donbas, a group of 24people's deputies of Ukraine from the Party of Regions and theCommunist Party of Ukraine met withSergey Naryshkin, thechairman of theRussianState Duma.[132] On September 25, 2014, the Central Investigation Administration of the UkrainianMinistry of Internal Affairs opened a criminal case against those deputies, charging them with infringement on the territorial integrity of Ukraine.[133]
The Ukrainian press claimed that during the days around the February2014 Ukrainian revolution, several party members called for the disintegration of Ukraine and for a union with theRussian Federation. News outlets claimed thatOleksandr Yefremov, leader of the Ukrainian parliamentary faction,[which?] was in full support of these proposed actions,[134] and thatVladimir Konstantinov, chairman of the Supreme Council of theAutonomous Republic of Crimea went toLuhansk to support these actions.[135]
On 14 September 2014, the Party of Regions officially announced their choice not to participate in the2014 parliamentary elections; the party deemed the election as lacking legitimacy because the residents of theDonbas could not vote in the election.[136] Many individual members of Party of Regions ended up as candidates of theOpposition Bloc.[137][136] As of 2024, the Party of Regions has not participated in elections since the2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election.[25]
By the summer of 2015, most representatives of the party in 2014 had become members ofOpposition Bloc,Revival orOur Land.[26] Others continued their political careers in other parties (mostlyPetro Poroshenko Bloc).[138] According to Ukrainian media research from February 2016, 22% of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc representatives in regional councils and 12% of the party's parliamentary deputies were former members of the Party of Regions.[139] In the2020 local elections, former Party of Regions members ran mainly as candidates of theOpposition Platform — For Life,Opposition Bloc,Kernes Bloc — Successful Kharkiv,Trust Deeds andServant of the People parties.[140][141][142][143][144]
Following the2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia andVladimir Konstantinov's announcement that the Party of Regions Crimean branch would be reorganized,[145] many of its members joined theUnited Russia party.[146] Officially — according to theTASS news agency and Konstantinov — there is no succession of the United Russia Crimean branch from the Party of Regions Crimean branch,[147] but according to several local news resources from Sevastopol, the transfer was in fact organized by former activists of the Party of Regions andRussian Unity.[148]
As of July 2019, the Party of Regions' former website redirected to “Golos Pravdy”, a pro-Russia blog website which theAtlantic Council considers to be linked toFancy Bear and which is run by politicians that fled Ukraine in 2014.[149]
After theRussian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, many former members of the Party of Regions supported the Russian side.[150] A number of city leaders inRussian-occupied territories were accused ofcollaboration and high treason for their cooperation with theArmed Forces of the Russian Federation.[151][152] For instance,Galina Danilchenko, a deputy inMelitopol who was part of the Party of Regions and theOpposition Bloc, was proclaimed by the Russians as “acting mayor of the city” on 12 March 2022 with support from the Russian army. The mayor of Melitopol,Ivan Fedorov, had been arrested by the Russian military the previous day.[153] InKupiansk, mayorGennady Matsegora of theOpposition Platform — For Life party voluntarily surrendered the city to the Russian armed forces.[154] Many former members of the Party of Regions on the ground were also appointed by Russian troops as heads ofcivil administrations in the occupied territories.[155][156]
On 21 February 2023, the Eighth Administrative Court of Appeal banned the Party of Regions.[29] This ban was initiated by theMinistry of Justice and theSecurity Service of Ukraine.[29] Because of theRusso-Ukrainian War (leading to loss of Ukrainian government control in parts of the country), no local elections have been held in some areas since the2010 Ukrainian local elections; as such, the Party of Regions deputiesin those territories still have their mandate.[29]
| Year | Party-list | Constituency/total | Overall seats won | Seat change | Government | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Popular vote | % | Seats/total | |||||
| 1998 | 241,262 | 0.9% | 0/225 | 2/225 | 2 / 450 |  2 | minority support |
| 2002 | For United Ukraine bloc | 6/225 | 25/225 | 31 / 450 | 29 | coalition government | |
| 2006 | 8,148,745 | 32.14% | 186/450 | N/A | 186 / 450 | 155 | coalition government |
| 2007 | 8,013,895 | 34.37% | 175/450 | N/A | 175 / 450 |  11 | opposition |
| 2012 | 6,116,815 | 30.00% | 72/225 | 113/225 | 185 / 450 | 10 | government |
| 2014 | No participation | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 / 450 | 185 | extra parliamentary |
| Election year | Candidate | First Round | Second Round | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # of overall votes | % of overall vote | # of overall votes | % of overall vote | |||
| 1999 | Leonid Kuchma | 9,598,672 | 38.0 | 15,870,722 | 57.7 | Won |
| 2004 | Viktor Yanukovych | 11,008,731 | 39.3 | 12,848,528 | 44.2 | Lost |
| 2010 | Viktor Yanukovych | 8,686,642 | 35.3 | 12,481,266 | 49.0 | Won |
| 2014 | Mykhailo Dobkin | 546,138 | 3.0 | Lost | ||
| Date | Party leader |
|---|---|
| 1997–2001 | Volodymyr Rybak |
| 2001–2002 | Mykola Azarov |
| 2002–2003 | Volodymyr Semynozhenko |
| 2003–2010 | Viktor Yanukovych |
| 2010–2014 | Mykola Azarov |
| 2014–present | Borys Kolesnikov |
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The Party of Regions has been described as center-left[14][16] or left-leaning.[15] The party is associated with other left-wing parties such asVolodymyr Lytvyn'sPeople's Party and theCommunist Party of Ukraine.[157] All three parties have combined a pro-Russian orientation with populist, redistributive policies.[158]
In 2011, the party asserted it had a pragmatic approach toUkrainian EU membership and the country's foreign economic interests; it said it supported "[walking] the path of European integration and the implementation of respective standards in the social and economic spheres". Yet, given the European financial crisis at the time, the party saw the issue of Ukraine's accession to the EU as "purely theoretical."[159]
The party acceptsUkrainian as the onlystate language in Ukraine,[citation needed] but also claims to promote "both the development of the state Ukrainian language and languages of other nationalities residing on the territory of Ukraine".[160][161][independent source needed]
The Party of Regions supports the cancellation of a number ofbenefits for deputies of theUkrainian parliament.[162] Leading party members have stated the party "would mercilessly expelcorrupt officials from its ranks".[163]
In November 2013 Party of RegionsMPOleh Tsariov demanded a criminal investigation into the activities of theUnited States Department of State-ledTechCamp inUkraine because he believed it was engaged in "preparations for inciting acivil war" because during training "instructors share their experience of Internet technologies, which are aimed at shaping public opinion and enhancing the protest potential and which were used to organize street protests inLibya,Egypt,Tunisia andSyria".[164]
The Party of Regions lost much of its policy influence amid the2014 revolution in Ukraine. 72 deputies[165] left the party; the remaining deputies either supported key opposition demands like impeaching Yanukovich, firing Zakharchenko and the General Prosecutor or did not vote.
On 23 February 2014, the party faction of Verkhovna Rada published a statement blaming everything wrong on "Yanukovych and his inner circle", accusing him in particular of giving out "criminal orders", and lamenting that the whole party had been "in effect hostage of one corrupt family".[166]
On 7 April 2014, the party presented its new economic doctrine, which consisted of policies including setting minimal taxes and fees, maximum investor protection, increasing investment attractiveness, deregulation and simplification of licensing procedures, the establishment of a transparent tax system and tax cuts, decreasing the inspections of small and medium-sized businesses, maintaining a 15-year preferential tax system in agriculture, the introduction of effective direct subsidies to farmers to compete on the world market, and a compensation of 50% of new fixed assets in crop.[167][clarification needed]
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On the question of European integration, different views exist within the party.[needs update] On the one hand, PresidentViktor Yanukovych, who was a member of the party, has repeatedly underlined his pro-European stances.[168][159] On the other hand, experts have described the Party of Regions aseurosceptic.[169][170] The Party's official stance is for increased European integration, but within a framework that is favorable to Ukraine.[171][needs update]
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The party supports policies including affordable housing funded through state mortgages with a 3%annual percentage rate, social contracts with employers, financial aid for newborns, perinatal centers in each region, and the upgrading ofmaternity homes.[citation needed]
The party supports plans for at least 75 percent placement in higher-educational institutions, a minimum-wage student stipend, a minimum 20-percent annual raise in educator salaries, and universal Internet access. In labor issues, the party supports fully subsidizing employers of the disabled, orphans, single mothers, and workers over age 50; training the unemployed for occupations with labor shortages; providing internships to students; giving young professionals their first job; and a median salary of₴8,000 by 2017.[citation needed][clarification needed][needs update]
The party supports a median salary of ₴8,000 for physicians and ₴5,500 for other medical personnel, reducing basic-medicine prices by 30 percent, providing access to medicines to patients with cancer, heart disease, tuberculosis, andHIV/AIDS, mobile medical facilities in all rural areas, treatment, and rehabilitation for people with limited physical abilities and new pools, stadiums, ice arenas, and sports fields in all regions.[citation needed][needs update]
The party supports comfortable, affordable housing; security for senior citizens; the repayment of all deposits in the Sberbank of the USSR up to ₴5,000 by 2017; a minimum pension of 20 percent over thepoverty threshold, and significant pension increases for military and law-enforcement personnel. In the environmental sector, the party supports the completion of the Shelter Project for theChornobyl Nuclear Power Plant by 2015, as well as the installation of 20,000 centralized water-purification systems and recycling plants in each region.[citation needed][needs update]
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Economically, the Party of Regions' core policy proposals are a gradual reduction of corporate income tax, the introduction of tax holidays for IT and innovation projects, and an increase in affordable bank loans for domestic manufacturers. In the energy sector, the Party of Regions advocates: increasing the extraction of domestic coal, oil, andshale gas; developing the shelf gas fields; enhancing the use of solar, wind, and hydropower; and modernizing power plants so they can efficiently use domestic coal and other fuel sources. The Party of Regions also has a rural focus, with proposed policies including the creation of 1,500 agricultural cooperatives, the construction of new crop storage sites, government-set prices for land and rent. In addition to a rural emphasis, the Party of Regions' infrastructure policy also includes: the construction of more modern automobile roads; a new speed rail link between the capital and regions; more affordable aviation transportation; the construction and redevelopment of airports, seaports and rail stations; and the development of more metro stations and commuter rail links.[citation needed][needs update]
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The Party of Regions' stated civil policy priorities include intellectual freedom, freedom of speech, equal opportunities for women and men in all spheres of life, and granting theRussian language the status of the second state language (while maintaining legislative support for Ukrainian).[citation needed][needs update]
The Party also emphasizes regional policies, such as an increase in local government power and a shift of the state budget towards funding local councils and their initiatives. The Party promotes the idea of a Ukrainian shift towards a contract army with an abolition of compulsory conscription.[citation needed][needs update]
The Party of Regions published anationwide weeklynewspaper (Russian:"Время Регионов",romanized: Vremya Regionov,lit. 'Time of the Regions'). The newspaper was published inKyiv from 24 August 2008. It was released (on Thursdays) inUkrainian andRussianonline.
The party has previously had international cooperation agreements with the following parties:
Russia:United Russia[172]
EU:Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats[173]
Kazakhstan:Nur Otan[174][175]
Azerbaijan:New Azerbaijan Party[174][176]
Armenia:Republican Party of Armenia[174] andProsperous Armenia[172]
Kyrgyzstan:Ar-Namys[174]
Cyprus:Progressive Party of Working People[177]
Poland:Democratic Left Alliance[178]
China:Chinese Communist Party[179]
Vietnam:Communist Party of Vietnam[180]A political project – the "Socialists" party has emerged in the political field, whose leadership included prominent representatives ofthe centre-left Party of Regions and V. Tsushko and L. Kozhar and the media reported on the possible involvement of A. Klyuyev in its funding.
Viktor Yanukovych, leader ofthe left-leaning Party of Regions, assumes the post of prime minister.
In all other cases mainstream Ukrainian politics-whether thecenter left (Party of Regions) or the center right (Our Ukraine-Bloc ofYulia Timoshenko) coalition-has tended to steer clear of the "pronuclear" stance.
Yet, it was the pro-Russian center left Party of Regions leader Viktor Yanukovych who ended up victorious in the presidential race with 48.95%, while Yulia Tymoshenko came in a close second with 45.47%, which made the 'Orange princess' a de facto uncontested leader of the opposition.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)Der Euromaidan im Jahr 2013 / 2014 war kein von den USA organisierter und von ukrainischen Faschisten durchgeführter Putsch, wie dies einige hier in Deutschland mit Verweis auf die russischen Medien darstellen wollen. ... Es gibt eine große Zahl von sehr überzeugenden, geschichts-, kultur-, sozial- und politikwissenschaftlichen Studien dazu, dass der Euromaidan die größte demokratische Massenbewegung Europas seit dem Jahr 1989 gewesen ist.[The Euromaidan in 2013 / 2014 was no coup organized by the US and carried out by Ukrainian faschists, as some people here in Germany want to present it with reference to the Russian media. ... There is a large number of very convincing studies from the fields of history, cultural science, social science, and political science showing that the Euromaidan was the largest democratic mass movement in Europe since 1989.]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
Media related toParty of Regions (Ukraine) at Wikimedia Commons
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