Opposition Bloc (2019)

Opposition Bloc (Ukrainian: Опозиційний блок), formerly called Opposition Bloc — Party for Peace and Development (Ukrainian: Опозиційний блок — Партія миру та розвитку) until June 2019, is a Ukrainian political party that was founded in 2019.

For the now defunct party of the same name founded in 2014, see Opposition Bloc.
Opposition Bloc

Опозиційний блок
LeaderEvgeny Murayev
Deputy LeaderOleksandr Vilkul
ChairmanBorys Kolesnikov
Parliamentary LeaderVadym Novynskyi
Founded2019
Merger ofFounders:[1][2][3][4]

Additional members:

HeadquartersKiev
IdeologyRussophilia[9][10][11]
Political positionCentre[12]
Colours     Blue      White
Verkhovna Rada
6 / 450
Website
opposition.com.ua

The creation of the party is the result of a schism in the party Opposition Bloc (a party founded in 2014). By January 2019, two wings of this party had nominated two different candidates for the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election.[13][14][15] Yuriy Boyko was nominated by Opposition Platform — For Life,[16] and when Oleksandr Vilkul could not be nominated as presidential candidate by Opposition Bloc due to legal hindering by people associated with Opposition Platform — For Life, the party Opposition Bloc — Party for Peace and Development was created, which proceeded to nominate Vilkul as their presidential candidate.[13] In the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election the party won 6 single-seat constituencies and its nationwide list won 3.23% of the votes meaning it did not overcome the 5% election barrier.[17]

Legally, Opposition Bloc — Party for Peace and Development is the successor of the Industrial Party of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Індустріальна Україна),[13] founded in 2014.[18]

Party Leaders

Chairman:

Political Council

Fraction in Verkhovna Rada leader

History

In 2014 as six parties that did not endorse Euromaidan merged into a new party called Opposition Bloc.[19][20] In the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election, the party won 29 seats predominantly in the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, Luhansk and Kharkiv oblasts.[21][22]

According to Ukrayinska Pravda in the summer of 2018 negotiations on the unification of the parties For life (who split into Opposition Bloc in 2016) and Opposition Bloc started.[15] Ukrayinska Pravda says these talks were instigated by Serhiy Lyovochkin who, along with Dmytro Firtash, controlled one of the wings of the party.[15] While Rinat Akhmetov controlled the other wing of Opposition Bloc.[15] Early November 2018 the party members loyal to Akhmetov decided to take a pause in the negotiations.[15]

On 9 November 2018 Opposition Bloc chairman Boyko and Vadim Rabinovich's party For life signed an agreement for cooperation in the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election and the parliamentary election of the same year and created the alliance Opposition Platform — For life.[23][24] The same day Opposition Bloc leading members Vadym Novynskyi and Borys Kolesnikov claimed the agreement was a "personal initiative" of Boyko and that the party had not take any decisions on cooperation with For life.[25] On 17 November 2018 Opposition Platform — For life nominated Boyko as its candidate in the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election.[24] The same day Opposition Bloc member Party of Development of Ukraine joined the Opposition Platform — For life alliance.[24] On 20 November 2018 Boyko and Serhiy Lyovochkin (leading member of the Party of Development of Ukraine[26]) were excluded from the Opposition Bloc faction (the reason given was) "because they betrayed their voters" interests.[27]

On 17 December 2018 an Opposition Bloc congress nominated Oleksandr Vilkul as their candidate in the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election.[28] But a Ukrainian court ruled three days before (in response to a lawsuit filed by People's Deputy of Ukraine for Opposition Bloc Serhiy Larin) that Opposition Bloc's congress at which Vikul was to be nominated could not "reorganize the party by any means".[29] On 18 December 2018 the website of Opposition Bloc stated that therefore all the decisions made at the congress were invalid.[30] On 20 December 2018 the website of Opposition Bloc was down.[31] Vilkul was nominated for the presidency again by Opposition Bloc — Party of Peace and Development (the recently renamed Industrial Party of Ukraine) on 20 January 2019.[13] According to Liga.net Rinat Akhmetov had renamed Industrial Party of Ukraine to Opposition Bloc — Party of Peace and Development solely to circumvent the courts injunction of 20 December 2018 (which prohibited any changes to the statute of the (party) Opposition Bloc).[13] The Industrial Party of Ukraine was registered by the Ministry of Justice on 13 June 2014, and Rostyslav Shurma was then the chairman of this party.[18] Shurma was at the time General Director of Zaporizhstal.[18] Zaporizhstal is part of the industrial complex owned by Rinat Akhmetov.[18]

In the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election the alliance was formed by Rinat Akhmetov's wing in the Opposition Bloc party and Borys Kolesnikov's and Oleksandr Vilkul's party, Party of Peace and Development. The alliance was later joined by Revival, Nashi and Trust Deeds, where the alliance selected Evgeny Murayev as leader of the united party list.[32][33] In the election the mayors of Kharkiv (Hennadiy Kernes) and Odessa (Gennadiy Trukhanov) are placed in the top ten of the nationwide party list.[34]

In the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election the party won 6 single-seat constituencies, and because the nationwide list with 3.23% of the votes did not overcome the 5% election barrier, those 6 seats were the only seats that the party won in the election.[17]

Election results

Verkhovna Rada
Year Popular vote % of popular vote Overall seats won Seat change Government
2019 443,200 3.03
6 / 450
 6 Opposition

Presidential elections
Year Candidate First round Second round Won/Loss
Votes % Rank Votes %
2019 Oleksandr Vilkul 784,274 4.15% 8th Eliminated Loss

Notes
  1. Rinat Akhmetov's wing members
  2. Borys Kolesnikov's & Oleksandr Vilkul's party members
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See also
Ukraine
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Ukraine
Constitution

References
  1. (in English) Opposition Bloc, Peace And Development Party, Ours, Revival, Trust The Deeds Parties Unite To Run For Parliament, Ukranews (7 June 2019)
  2. (in Ukrainian) Оппозиционный блок, “Наши”, “Відродження”, “Доверяй делам”, Партия мира и развития объединились для участия в парламентских выборах больше читайте тут:, Gordon.ua (7 June 2019)
  3. (in Ukrainian) Квартири дружин Мураєва: чим володіє лідер "Опозиційного блоку", Channel 24 (18 July 2019)
  4. (in Ukrainian) Odd-man-out. Why Leovochkin and Medvedchuk are preparing for the election without Akhmetov, Ukrayinska Pravda (18 December 2018)
  5. Parties of Opposition Bloc, Peace and Development, Vidrodzhennia, Ours and Trust Deeds declare unification to participate in Rada snap elections, Interfax-Ukraine (7 June 2019)
  6. https://ua.korrespondent.net/ukraine/3943533-dobkin-stvoryv-partiui-khrystyianski-sotsialisty
  7. https://m.zn.ua/POLITICS/dobkin-sozdal-partiyu-hristianskih-socialistov-276076_.html
  8. https://photonew.ukrinform.com/stock-photo/forum-obyednanih-opoziciynih-sil-quotdoviryay-dilamquot-316601.html
  9. (in German) Selenskyjs Triumph birgt ein hohes Absturzrisiko, Wiener Zeitung (22 July 2019)
  10. (in German) Ukraine: Präsident Selenskij steuert auf seinen zweiten Wahlsieg zu, Tageblatt (21 July 2019)
  11. (in German) Kiew in der Hand der „Diener des Volkes“, Schwäbische Post (23 July 2019)
  12. Nordsieck, Wolfram (2019). "Ukraine". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  13. (in Ukrainian) Presidential elections: Kivu, Vilkul and Hnapa have been nominated, Korrespondent.net (20 January 2019)
    (in Ukrainian) Kiva and Vilkul surrendered to the Central Election Commission, Ukrayinska Pravda (22 January 2019)
  14. (in Ukrainian) Opposition split. How Boyko and Vilkul divide the legacy of "regionalists", Ukrayinska Pravda (18 December 2018)
  15. (in Ukrainian) Odd-man-out. Why Leovochkin and Medvedchuk are preparing for the election without Akhmetov, Ukrayinska Pravda (20 November 2018)
  16. (in Ukrainian) Boyko began registering as a presidential candidate, Ukrayinska Pravda (17 November 2018)
    (in Ukrainian) The association of Boyko-Rabinovich was determined with the presidential candidate, Ukrayinska Pravda (17 November 2018)
  17. https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2019/07/22/7221609/
  18. (in Ukrainian) PARTY "INDUSTRIAL UKRAINE" HEADS "MAN AKHMETOV", 5 Kanal (26 August 2014)
  19. 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 Archived 2014-09-24 at the Wayback Machine, Ukrainian News Agency (14 September 2014)
  20. 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)
    (in Ukrainian) Non-Maidan parties united into the Opposition Bloc. Radio Liberty. 14 September 2014
  21. 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)
  22. (in Ukrainian) "OPPOSITION BLOCK", Civil movement "Chesno" (2018)
  23. Two Russia-friendly parties join forces for presidential election, Kyiv Post (9 November 2018)
  24. (in Ukrainian) The association of Boyko-Rabinovich was determined with the presidential candidate, Ukrayinska Pravda (17 November 2018)
  25. (in Ukrainian) Boyko's decision to merge with Rabinovich does not concern the "Opposition" – Novinsky, Ukrayinska Pravda (9 November 2018)
  26. (in Ukrainian) The Party of Lyovochkin considers Ukrainian soldiers "punitive" and does not notice the annexation of the Crimea, UNIAN (11 August 2014)
  27. Boiko, Loovochkin excluded from Opposition Bloc faction for betraying voters' interests — Vilkul, Interfax-Ukraine (20 November 2018)
  28. Oleksandr Vilkul to be nominated as candidate for president, Kyiv Post (1817 December 2018)
  29. (in Ukrainian) Split "Opoploko": the court imposed restrictions on the party before the congress, Ukrayinska Pravda (14 December 2018)
  30. "В партии "Оппозиционный блок" заявили, что Вилкул не сможет выдвинуться от нее в президенты". gordonua.com. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
  31. "http://opposition.org.ua Server Status Check". isitdownrightnow.com. Retrieved 20 December 2018. External link in |title= (help)
  32. https://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/592347.html
  33. https://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/592883.html
  34. https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2019/06/10/7217688/
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