Party of Regions
Encyclopedia
The Party of Regions is an Ukrainian
political party
created on October 26, 1997 just prior to the 1998 Ukrainian parliamentary elections under the name of Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine. It was reformed later in 2001 when the party united with several others. According to the party’s leadership in 2002, from the creation of the party to the end of 2001 the number of members jumped from 30,000 to 500,000. The party claims to ideologically defend and uphold the rights
of ethnic Russians
and speakers of the Russian language
in Ukraine
.
It originally supported president Leonid Kuchma
and joined the pro-government United Ukraine alliance during the parliamentary elections
on 30 March 2002. The party's leader is the former Acting Ukrainian Prime Minister
Mykola Azarov
. The areas the Party of Regions does well in are mostly parts of historic Novorossiya
. Its electoral and financial base is located primarily in the east and south-east of Ukraine, where it enjoys wide popular support. In the Eastern Ukrainian Donetsk Oblast
the party claims to have over 700,000 members. The party is supported mostly by people older than 45 years.
American
consultant Paul J. Manafort
has advised the party and its former leader Yanukovych since 2005.
The party signed a collaboration agreement in 2005 with Russia
's "United Russia
". In September 2009 Mykola Azarov
declared about the creation of Anti-Fascist Forum of Ukraine, chairmen of which became a member of parliament Dmytro Shentsev (Kharkiv
) and the head of Luhansk Region State Administration Valeriy Holenko. The forum was created during the International conference "World War II: results and meaning for Ukraine" that took place in Kharkiv
on the initiative of the Assembly of Slavic Peoples.
. The first leader of the party was the mayor of Donetsk
Volodymyr Rybak. On November 6, 1997, the Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine was registered at the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice.
During the 1998 parliamentary elections
Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine won 0,90% of the votes. A single party representative was elected to the Ukrainian Parliament by winning one constituency at the regular elections. The party was among the top 10 in Chernivtsi
and Donetsk Oblast
. Rybak was the winner of constituency number 45 in Donetsk Oblast.
In the summer of 1999, the party entered the electoral bloc "Our choice - Leonid Kuchma", who endorsed incumbent President Leonid Kuchma
in the presidential election of 1999
.
, announced their willingness to join their parties into a single entity. On November 18, 2000, five political entities: the Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine, Solidarity, the Party of Labor, the Party for the Beautiful Ukraine and the National Party of Pensioners, merged into the new structure and three co-chairmen wher elected: Volodymyr Rybak of the Party of Regional Renaissance of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko and Valentyn Landyk, leader of the Party of Labor. It was joined by a number of others, among them (the future Mayor of Kiev
) Leonid Chernovetsky and Mykola Azarov
, a long-standing ally of then President
Leonid Kuchma
, who was elected leader of the party in March 2001 but resigned in December (2001)., his successor was Vice Prime Minister Volodymyr Semynozhenko
. In December 2001 the Party of the Regions member Igor Yushchko was appointed Minister of Finance of Ukraine.
Regions of Ukraine was the parliamentary wing of the Party of Regions, it was created at the end of March 2001 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. Nine out of seventeen members of the faction had their political and business roots in the Donetsk region
. On March 20, 2001 Solidarity announced it would "be as a single bloc".
During the Ukrainian parliamentary election
the party was a member of the For United Ukraine
electoral bloc
. It was then led by Volodymyr Semynozhenko
.
From November 21, 2002 until December 7, 2004, Viktor Yanukovych
was Prime Minister
.
At a congress held on April 19, 2003 Viktor Yanukovych
was elected party leader, succeeding Volodymyr Semynozhenko
. At that time the party had 20 seats in parliament.
and, as a result, Yanukovych won over a large part of the Communist party's
electorate in eastern Ukraine. The party announced support for making Russian
a second official language
in Ukraine, a pro-Russian foreign policy, and increased social spending. It also advocates the regionalist ideology, and many members support making Ukraine a federation
.
The Party of Regions moved to opposition after its candidate, Viktor Yanukovych, lost the 2004 presidential election. The party leader first claimed an electoral victory but strong allegations of electoral fraud
triggered a series of events commonly known as the Orange Revolution
. In the re-run of the presidential election ordered by the country's Supreme Court
, Viktor Yanukovych lost the election to Viktor Yushchenko
.
The Party claimed to be a victim of a political persecution campaign organized by the new government. Also because Borys Kolesnykov, the head of the regional party branch and the Donetsk regional council, was arrested in April 2005 and charged with criminal extortion. The Party of Regions claims this is an act of political repression, while the authorities believe that Kolesnykov had links to organized crime
and his arrest is a purely criminal matter. The Council of Europe
called the investigation "in full compliance with European standards". Kolesnykov has since been cleared of charges and released from pre-trial detention.
on 26 March 2006, the party gained 32,14% of votes and 186 (out of 450) seats in the Verkhovna Rada
(the Ukrainian Parliament), forming the largest parliamentary group. On July 6, 2006, the Socialist Party
abandoned the "Orange Coalition
" between Our Ukraine, and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc following the failure of each bloc to reach agreement on on the formation of a governing coalition.
On July 10, 2006 A new parliamentary majority titled the "anti-crisis coalition", led by the Party of Regions and including the Socialist Party of Ukraine and the Communist Party
was formed nominating Viktor Yanukovych
to the post of prime minister.
The coalition remained in office until the special parliamentary elections
held in September 2007
At the Crimean parliamentary election, 2006
the party was part of the For Yanukovych!
election bloc.
On January 19, 2007, Yevhen Kushnaryov
, a member of Party of Regions' died in Izium
as a result of an accidental gunshot wound received while hunting.
In mid-2007, the Ukrainian Republican Party
and Labour Ukraine
merged into the Party of Regions.
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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. The party received the highest number of votes with a swing of +2.23% in comparison to the 2006 vote.
Following the formation of a governing coalition between Our Ukraine and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and the election of Yulia Tymoshenko
as prime-minister on December 18, 2007 the Party of Regions formed the parliamentary opposition.
On March 13, 2009 Victor Yanukovych stated the Party of Regions was ready to unite into a coalition with archrivals Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko, he noted that: "We are ready to unite but only on the base of the program on struggle with crisis". The previous day the deputy leader of Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko faction, Andriy Portnov, said that the union of his political force with the Party of Regions is highly improbable but that the union of the BYuT and the Party of Regions could be possible after the next Ukrainian presidential elections
. Prime Minister
Yulia Tymoshenko
stated on March 17, 2009 that her bloc was ready to join efforts with the Regions Party to pass certain bills in the Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada). "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," Tymoshenko said.
On March 30, 2009 Victor Yanukovych stated he did not believe in the possibility of forming a coalition with 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 into the Constitution of Ukraine
in the part of local self-government reform, judicial reform and clear division of authorities among President, government and parliament. According to Yanukovych talks with BYuT were still ongoing late May 2008.
Early June talks to build a broad coalition to address the economic crisis
collapsed, Yulia Tymoshenko accused Yanukovich of betrayal: “He unilaterally, without warning anyone, quit the negotiation process, making a loud political statement, killing the merger and the chances for Ukraine”.
In September 2009 Member 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”.
. The party indented to create a new coalition in the Verkhovna Rada
and form a new government
if Yanukovych would win the 2010 presidential elections. Yanukovych was elected President of Ukraine
on February 7, 2010. On February 19 the Ukrainian parliament terminated the powers of Ukrainian Member of Parliament
(MP) Yanukovych, in his place #179th on the electoral list of the Party of Regions at the 2007 early parliamentary elections
Tamara Yehorenko was registered as an MP by the Central Election Commission of Ukraine
on February 26. On March 3 Ukrainian President Yanukovych suspended his membership in the Party (Yanukovych was barred by the Constitution
from heading a political party) and handed over leadership in the party and in the parliamentary faction to Mykola Azarov
, 9 days later Azarov handed it to Oleksandr Yefremov. On March 11, 2010 together with Bloc Lytvyn and Communist Party of Ukraine
the party joined the first Azarov Government
The party elected a new leader at its 12th congress on April 23, 2010. Prime Minister
Mykola Azarov
was elected.
Seven extra deputies (four Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko (BYuT) members) joined the Party of Regions faction in October 2010. In March 2011 five more former BYuT deputies joined the faction.
During the 2010 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 the 2010 Crimean parliamentary election
(where it won over 70% of the seats). It was the only party that did win representatives in all Ukrainian Oblasts where elections where held and it won in all but 4 Oblasts of those Oblasts the most votes (the 4 Oblasts where it didn't where situated in Western Ukraine
).
In September 2010, the party was planning to sign a memorandum on cooperation with China
's Communist Party
.
In 14 October 2010, the Party of Regions formed a co-operative arrangement a with the Socialists and Democrats
European parliamentary group.
President Yanukovych and the Party of Regions have been accused of trying to create a "controlled democracy" in Ukraine and as a means to this are trying to "destroy" main opposition party BYuT, but both have denied this charges.
In August 2011 Strong Ukraine
and People's Party
announced that both will merge with Party of Regions.
According to a poll by the Kyiv International Sociology Institute the number of voters ready to go to polling stations to vote for Party of Regions dropped from 38% in June 2010 to 13.9% in April 2011.
Several billionaires have been member of the Party of Regions faction in the Verkhovna Rada
.
newspaper
called Время Регионов (Time of the Regions). The newspaper is based and published in Kiev
, the newspaper is released weekly, every Thursday
, in Ukrainian
and Russian
. The newspaper was launched on 24 August, 2008. The newspaper is available online in PDF
format.
Press-center of the central staff on local elections Official website of the youth wing of Party of Regions Vremya Regionov
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
created on October 26, 1997 just prior to the 1998 Ukrainian parliamentary elections under the name of Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine. It was reformed later in 2001 when the party united with several others. According to the party’s leadership in 2002, from the creation of the party to the end of 2001 the number of members jumped from 30,000 to 500,000. The party claims to ideologically defend and uphold the rights
Minority rights
The term Minority Rights embodies two separate concepts: first, normal individual rights as applied to members of racial, ethnic, class, religious, linguistic or sexual minorities, and second, collective rights accorded to minority groups...
of ethnic Russians
Russians in Ukraine
Russians in Ukraine form the largest ethnic minority in the country, and the community forms the largest single Russian diaspora in the world. In the 2001 Ukrainian census, 8,334,100 identified themselves as ethnic Russians ....
and speakers of the Russian language
Russian language in Ukraine
Russian is a minority language in Ukraine It is the most common first language in Donbass and Crimea regions, the predominant language in large cities in the East and South of the country...
in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
.
It originally supported president Leonid Kuchma
Leonid Kuchma
Leonid Danylovych Kuchma was the second President of independent Ukraine from 19 July 1994, to 23 January 2005. Kuchma took office after winning the 1994 presidential election against his rival, incumbent Leonid Kravchuk...
and joined the pro-government United Ukraine alliance during the parliamentary elections
Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2002
Ukrainian parliamentary election of 2002 took place on March 31. Half of the deputies to Verkhovna Rada were elected on proportional basis, while the other half were elected by popular vote in single-mandate constituencies...
on 30 March 2002. The party's leader is the former Acting Ukrainian Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Ukraine
The Prime Minister of Ukraine is Ukraine's head of government presiding over the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which is the highest body of the executive branch of the Ukrainian government....
Mykola Azarov
Mykola Azarov
Mykola Yanovych Azarov ; born Nikolai Yanovich Pakhlo on 17 December 1947, is a Ukrainian politician who has been the Prime Minister of Ukraine since 11 March 2010. He was the First Vice Prime Minister and Finance Minister from 2002 to 2005 and again from 2006 to 2007, and he also served as acting...
. The areas the Party of Regions does well in are mostly parts of historic Novorossiya
Novorossiya
Novorossiya is a historic area of lands which established itself solidly after the annexation of the Crimean Khanate by the Russian Empire, but was introduced with the establishment of Novorossiysk Governorate with the capital in Kremenchuk in the mid 18th century. Until that time in both Polish...
. Its electoral and financial base is located primarily in the east and south-east of Ukraine, where it enjoys wide popular support. In the Eastern Ukrainian Donetsk Oblast
Donetsk Oblast
Donetsk Oblast is an oblast of eastern Ukraine. Its administrative center is Donetsk. Historically, the province is an important part of the Donbas region...
the party claims to have over 700,000 members. The party is supported mostly by people older than 45 years.
American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
consultant Paul J. Manafort
Paul J. Manafort
Paul J. Manafort is an American lobbyist and political consultant. A former adviser to the presidential campaigns of George W. Bush, Bob Dole, George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, and Gerald Ford, he is a senior partner in the firm Davis, Manafort and Freedman....
has advised the party and its former leader Yanukovych since 2005.
The party signed a collaboration agreement in 2005 with Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
's "United Russia
United Russia
United Russia is a centrist political party in Russia and the largest party in the country, currently holding 315 of the 450 seats in the State Duma. The party was founded in December 2001, through a merger of the Unity and Fatherland-All Russia parties...
". In September 2009 Mykola Azarov
Mykola Azarov
Mykola Yanovych Azarov ; born Nikolai Yanovich Pakhlo on 17 December 1947, is a Ukrainian politician who has been the Prime Minister of Ukraine since 11 March 2010. He was the First Vice Prime Minister and Finance Minister from 2002 to 2005 and again from 2006 to 2007, and he also served as acting...
declared about the creation of Anti-Fascist Forum of Ukraine, chairmen of which became a member of parliament Dmytro Shentsev (Kharkiv
Kharkiv
Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...
) and the head of Luhansk Region State Administration Valeriy Holenko. The forum was created during the International conference "World War II: results and meaning for Ukraine" that took place in Kharkiv
Kharkiv
Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...
on the initiative of the Assembly of Slavic Peoples.
Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine
The founding congress of the Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine was held on 26 October 1997 in KievKiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
. The first leader of the party was the mayor of Donetsk
Donetsk
Donetsk , is a large city in eastern Ukraine on the Kalmius river. Administratively, it is a center of Donetsk Oblast, while historically, it is the unofficial capital and largest city of the economic and cultural Donets Basin region...
Volodymyr Rybak. On November 6, 1997, the Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine was registered at the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice.
During the 1998 parliamentary elections
Ukrainian parliamentary election, 1998
The second Ukrainian parliamentary election after the collapse of the Soviet Union took place on 29 March 1998. In comparison to the first parliamentary election, this time half of 450 parliament seats were filled by single-seat majority winners in 225 electoral regions , and the other half were...
Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine won 0,90% of the votes. A single party representative was elected to the Ukrainian Parliament by winning one constituency at the regular elections. The party was among the top 10 in Chernivtsi
Chernivtsi Oblast
Chernivtsi Oblast is an oblast in western Ukraine, bordering on Romania and Moldova. It has a large variety of landforms: the Carpathian Mountains and picturesque hills at the foot of the mountains gradually change to a broad partly forested plain situated between the Dniester and Prut rivers....
and Donetsk Oblast
Donetsk Oblast
Donetsk Oblast is an oblast of eastern Ukraine. Its administrative center is Donetsk. Historically, the province is an important part of the Donbas region...
. Rybak was the winner of constituency number 45 in Donetsk Oblast.
In the summer of 1999, the party entered the electoral bloc "Our choice - Leonid Kuchma", who endorsed incumbent President Leonid Kuchma
Leonid Kuchma
Leonid Danylovych Kuchma was the second President of independent Ukraine from 19 July 1994, to 23 January 2005. Kuchma took office after winning the 1994 presidential election against his rival, incumbent Leonid Kravchuk...
in the presidential election of 1999
Ukrainian presidential election, 1999
The Ukrainian presidential election, 1999 was a presidential election held in 1999 in Ukraine.There were 15 candidates originally with two withdrawing prior to election ....
.
Creation of the Party of Regions
The Party of Regions was created in March 2001 from the unification of five parties. On July 18, 2000, leaders of five political parties, inspired by Petro Poroshenko, leader of SolidaritySolidarity (Ukraine)
Solidarity was a political party in Ukraine registered in March 2001. The part was led by Petro Poroshenko.-History:At the legislative elections, 30 March 2002, the party was part of the Viktor Yushchenko Bloc Our Ukraine...
, announced their willingness to join their parties into a single entity. On November 18, 2000, five political entities: the Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine, Solidarity, the Party of Labor, the Party for the Beautiful Ukraine and the National Party of Pensioners, merged into the new structure and three co-chairmen wher elected: Volodymyr Rybak of the Party of Regional Renaissance of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko and Valentyn Landyk, leader of the Party of Labor. It was joined by a number of others, among them (the future Mayor of Kiev
Mayor of Kiev
Mayor of Kiev is the elected mayor of the municipality of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, who is also normally automatically appointed as Head of the City's State Administration and Chair of the City Council....
) Leonid Chernovetsky and Mykola Azarov
Mykola Azarov
Mykola Yanovych Azarov ; born Nikolai Yanovich Pakhlo on 17 December 1947, is a Ukrainian politician who has been the Prime Minister of Ukraine since 11 March 2010. He was the First Vice Prime Minister and Finance Minister from 2002 to 2005 and again from 2006 to 2007, and he also served as acting...
, a long-standing ally of then President
President of Ukraine
Prior to the formation of the modern Ukrainian presidency, the previous Ukrainian head of state office was officially established in exile by Andriy Livytskyi. At first the de facto leader of nation was the president of the Central Rada at early years of the Ukrainian People's Republic, while the...
Leonid Kuchma
Leonid Kuchma
Leonid Danylovych Kuchma was the second President of independent Ukraine from 19 July 1994, to 23 January 2005. Kuchma took office after winning the 1994 presidential election against his rival, incumbent Leonid Kravchuk...
, who was elected leader of the party in March 2001 but resigned in December (2001)., his successor was Vice Prime Minister Volodymyr Semynozhenko
Volodymyr Semynozhenko
Volodymyr Petrovich Semynozhenko is a Ukrainian politician and scientist. Semynozhenko is a former Vice Premier Minister of Ukraine and head of the Association of Ukrainian Scientists, he is now a member of the Board of the National Academy of Sciences, and serves as the Chair of the Parliament...
. In December 2001 the Party of the Regions member Igor Yushchko was appointed Minister of Finance of Ukraine.
Regions of Ukraine was the parliamentary wing of the Party of Regions, it was created at the end of March 2001 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. Nine out of seventeen members of the faction had their political and business roots in the Donetsk region
Donetsk Oblast
Donetsk Oblast is an oblast of eastern Ukraine. Its administrative center is Donetsk. Historically, the province is an important part of the Donbas region...
. On March 20, 2001 Solidarity announced it would "be as a single bloc".
During the Ukrainian parliamentary election
Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2002
Ukrainian parliamentary election of 2002 took place on March 31. Half of the deputies to Verkhovna Rada were elected on proportional basis, while the other half were elected by popular vote in single-mandate constituencies...
the party was a member of the For United Ukraine
For United Ukraine
For United Ukraine was a political alliance and an electoral bloc in Ukraine founded in December 2001 to participate in the parliamentary election in held on March 30, 2002.-2002 parliamentary election:...
electoral bloc
Electoral alliance
An electoral alliance may take the form of a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc. It is an association of political parties or individuals which exists solely to stand in elections...
. It was then led by Volodymyr Semynozhenko
Volodymyr Semynozhenko
Volodymyr Petrovich Semynozhenko is a Ukrainian politician and scientist. Semynozhenko is a former Vice Premier Minister of Ukraine and head of the Association of Ukrainian Scientists, he is now a member of the Board of the National Academy of Sciences, and serves as the Chair of the Parliament...
.
From November 21, 2002 until December 7, 2004, Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych is a Ukrainian politician who has been the President of Ukraine since February 2010.Yanukovych served as the Governor of Donetsk Oblast from 1997 to 2002...
was Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Ukraine
The Prime Minister of Ukraine is Ukraine's head of government presiding over the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which is the highest body of the executive branch of the Ukrainian government....
.
At a congress held on April 19, 2003 Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych is a Ukrainian politician who has been the President of Ukraine since February 2010.Yanukovych served as the Governor of Donetsk Oblast from 1997 to 2002...
was elected party leader, succeeding Volodymyr Semynozhenko
Volodymyr Semynozhenko
Volodymyr Petrovich Semynozhenko is a Ukrainian politician and scientist. Semynozhenko is a former Vice Premier Minister of Ukraine and head of the Association of Ukrainian Scientists, he is now a member of the Board of the National Academy of Sciences, and serves as the Chair of the Parliament...
. At that time the party had 20 seats in parliament.
Electoral breakthrough
The party shifted its political ideology to the left and became much more populist in nature before the Ukrainian presidential election, 2004Ukrainian presidential election, 2004
The Ukrainian presidential election, 2004 was held on October 31, November 21 and December 26, 2004. The election was the fourth presidential election to take place in Ukraine following independence from the Soviet Union...
and, as a result, Yanukovych won over a large part of the Communist party's
Communist Party of Ukraine
The Communist Party of Ukraine is a political party in Ukraine, currently led by Petro Symonenko.The party fights the Ukrainian national self-determination by identifying any Ukrainian national parties as the National-Fascist ones The Communist Party of Ukraine is a political party in Ukraine,...
electorate in eastern Ukraine. The party announced support for making Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
a second official language
Official language
An official language is a language that is given a special legal status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically a nation's official language will be the one used in that nation's courts, parliament and administration. However, official status can also be used to give a...
in Ukraine, a pro-Russian foreign policy, and increased social spending. It also advocates the regionalist ideology, and many members support making Ukraine a federation
Federation
A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...
.
The Party of Regions moved to opposition after its candidate, Viktor Yanukovych, lost the 2004 presidential election. The party leader first claimed an electoral victory but strong allegations of electoral fraud
Electoral fraud
Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud affect vote counts to bring about an election result, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates or both...
triggered a series of events commonly known as the Orange Revolution
Orange Revolution
The Orange Revolution was a series of protests and political events that took place in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005, in the immediate aftermath of the run-off vote of the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election which was claimed to be marred by massive corruption, voter...
. In the re-run of the presidential election ordered by the country's Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Ukraine
The Supreme Court of Ukraine is the highest judicial body in the system of courts of general jurisdiction in Ukraine.The Court derives its authority from the Constitution of Ukraine, but much of its structure is outlined in legislation...
, Viktor Yanukovych lost the election to Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko is a former President of Ukraine. He took office on January 23, 2005, following a period of popular unrest known as the Orange Revolution...
.
The Party claimed to be a victim of a political persecution campaign organized by the new government. Also because Borys Kolesnykov, the head of the regional party branch and the Donetsk regional council, was arrested in April 2005 and charged with criminal extortion. The Party of Regions claims this is an act of political repression, while the authorities believe that Kolesnykov had links to organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
and his arrest is a purely criminal matter. The Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
called the investigation "in full compliance with European standards". Kolesnykov has since been cleared of charges and released from pre-trial detention.
2006 Parliamentary Election results
At the parliamentary electionsUkrainian parliamentary election, 2006
The Ukrainian parliamentary election took place on March 26, 2006. Election campaigning officially began on July 7, 2005. Between November 26 and December 31, 2005 party lists of candidates were formed....
on 26 March 2006, the party gained 32,14% of votes and 186 (out of 450) seats in the Verkhovna Rada
Verkhovna Rada
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is Ukraine's parliament. The Verkhovna Rada is a unicameral parliament composed of 450 deputies, which is presided over by a chairman...
(the Ukrainian Parliament), forming the largest parliamentary group. On July 6, 2006, the Socialist Party
Socialist Party of Ukraine
The Socialist Party of Ukraine is a Socialist political party in Ukraine and part of the Verkhovna Rada from 1994 to 2007.It is one of the oldest parties and was created by the former members of the Communist Party of Ukraine in late 1991 when the Communist Party was banned...
abandoned the "Orange Coalition
Orange Revolution
The Orange Revolution was a series of protests and political events that took place in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005, in the immediate aftermath of the run-off vote of the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election which was claimed to be marred by massive corruption, voter...
" between Our Ukraine, and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc following the failure of each bloc to reach agreement on on the formation of a governing coalition.
On July 10, 2006 A new parliamentary majority titled the "anti-crisis coalition", led by the Party of Regions and including the Socialist Party of Ukraine and the Communist Party
Communist Party of Ukraine
The Communist Party of Ukraine is a political party in Ukraine, currently led by Petro Symonenko.The party fights the Ukrainian national self-determination by identifying any Ukrainian national parties as the National-Fascist ones The Communist Party of Ukraine is a political party in Ukraine,...
was formed nominating Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych is a Ukrainian politician who has been the President of Ukraine since February 2010.Yanukovych served as the Governor of Donetsk Oblast from 1997 to 2002...
to the post of prime minister.
The coalition remained in office until the special parliamentary elections
Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2007
Early parliamentary elections in Ukraine took place on 30 September 2007. The date of the election was determined following agreement between the President Viktor Yushchenko, the Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Moroz on 27 May 2007, in an attempt...
held in September 2007
At the Crimean parliamentary election, 2006
Crimean parliamentary election, 2006
The 2006 Crimean parliamentary election where held on 26 March 2006. These were the first elections to the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea, which were conducted on the proportional election system...
the party was part of the For Yanukovych!
For Yanukovych!
"For Yanukovych!" was a political alliance in Crimea between the Party of Regions and the Russian Bloc during the 2006 Crimean parliamentary election....
election bloc.
On January 19, 2007, Yevhen Kushnaryov
Yevhen Kushnaryov
Yevhen Petrovych Kushnaryov was a prominent Ukrainian politician of the post-Soviet era. Kushnaryov was considered one of the chief ideologues of the Party of Regions and a key ally of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych....
, a member of Party of Regions' died in Izium
Izium
Izyum , is a city situated on the Donets River in the Kharkiv Oblast of eastern Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Iziumsky Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast, and is located approximately 75 miles southeast of the oblast capital,...
as a result of an accidental gunshot wound received while hunting.
In mid-2007, the Ukrainian Republican Party
Ukrainian Republican Party
The Ukrainian Republican Party is the first registered political party in Ukraine created on November 5, 1990 by the Ministry of Justice of UkrSSR. URP was founded earlier that year in place of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group in April 1990.-History:...
and Labour Ukraine
Labour Ukraine
Strong Ukraine ; former Labour Party Ukraine , is a political party in Ukraine registered in August 1999. The party claims to have over 80,000 members as of mid-May 2010. It is currently negotiating a merge with the Party of Regions....
merged into the Party of Regions.
2007 Parliamentary Election results
At the parliamentary electionsUkrainian parliamentary election, 2007
Early parliamentary elections in Ukraine took place on 30 September 2007. The date of the election was determined following agreement between the President Viktor Yushchenko, the Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Moroz on 27 May 2007, in an attempt...
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. The party received the highest number of votes with a swing of +2.23% in comparison to the 2006 vote.
Following the formation of a governing coalition between Our Ukraine and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and the election of Yulia Tymoshenko
Yulia Tymoshenko
Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko , née Grigyan , born 27 November 1960, is a Ukrainian politician. She was the Prime Minister of Ukraine from 24 January to 8 September 2005, and again from 18 December 2007 to 4 March 2010. She placed third in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful...
as prime-minister on December 18, 2007 the Party of Regions formed the parliamentary opposition.
On March 13, 2009 Victor Yanukovych stated the Party of Regions was ready to unite into a coalition with archrivals Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko, he noted that: "We are ready to unite but only on the base of the program on struggle with crisis". The previous day the deputy leader of Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko faction, Andriy Portnov, said that the union of his political force with the Party of Regions is highly improbable but that the union of the BYuT and the Party of Regions could be possible after the next Ukrainian presidential elections
Ukrainian presidential election, 2010
The Ukrainian presidential election of 2010 is Ukraine's fifth presidential election since declaring independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The first round was held on January 17, 2010...
. Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Ukraine
The Prime Minister of Ukraine is Ukraine's head of government presiding over the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which is the highest body of the executive branch of the Ukrainian government....
Yulia Tymoshenko
Yulia Tymoshenko
Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko , née Grigyan , born 27 November 1960, is a Ukrainian politician. She was the Prime Minister of Ukraine from 24 January to 8 September 2005, and again from 18 December 2007 to 4 March 2010. She placed third in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful...
stated on March 17, 2009 that her bloc was ready to join efforts with the Regions Party to pass certain bills in the Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada). "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," Tymoshenko said.
On March 30, 2009 Victor Yanukovych stated he did not believe in the possibility of forming a coalition with 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 into the Constitution of Ukraine
Constitution of Ukraine
The Constitution of Ukraine is the nation's fundamental law. The constitution was adopted and ratified at the 5th session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on 28 June 1996. The constitution was passed with 315 ayes out of 450 votes possible .Other laws and other normative legal acts of Ukraine...
in the part of local self-government reform, judicial reform and clear division of authorities among President, government and parliament. According to Yanukovych talks with BYuT were still ongoing late May 2008.
Early June talks to build a broad coalition to address the economic crisis
2008–2009 Ukrainian financial crisis
Ukraine was hit heavily by the late-2000s recession, the World Bank expects Ukraine's economy to shrink 15% in 2009 with inflation being 16.4%....
collapsed, Yulia Tymoshenko accused Yanukovich of betrayal: “He unilaterally, without warning anyone, quit the negotiation process, making a loud political statement, killing the merger and the chances for Ukraine”.
In September 2009 Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
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”.
Yanukovych presidency
The Party of Regions endorsed Viktor Yanukovych as their candidate for the 2010 presidential electionUkrainian presidential election, 2010
The Ukrainian presidential election of 2010 is Ukraine's fifth presidential election since declaring independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The first round was held on January 17, 2010...
. The party indented to create a new coalition in the Verkhovna Rada
Verkhovna Rada
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is Ukraine's parliament. The Verkhovna Rada is a unicameral parliament composed of 450 deputies, which is presided over by a chairman...
and form a new government
Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
The Cabinet of Ukraine is the highest body of state executive power in Ukraine also referred to as the Government of Ukraine...
if Yanukovych would win the 2010 presidential elections. Yanukovych was elected President of Ukraine
President of Ukraine
Prior to the formation of the modern Ukrainian presidency, the previous Ukrainian head of state office was officially established in exile by Andriy Livytskyi. At first the de facto leader of nation was the president of the Central Rada at early years of the Ukrainian People's Republic, while the...
on February 7, 2010. On February 19 the Ukrainian parliament terminated the powers of Ukrainian Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) Yanukovych, in his place #179th on the electoral list of the Party of Regions at the 2007 early parliamentary elections
Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2007
Early parliamentary elections in Ukraine took place on 30 September 2007. The date of the election was determined following agreement between the President Viktor Yushchenko, the Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Moroz on 27 May 2007, in an attempt...
Tamara Yehorenko was registered as an MP by the Central Election Commission of Ukraine
Central Election Commission of Ukraine
The Central Election Commission of Ukraine ; sometimes referred to as the Central Electoral Commission of Ukraine) is a permanent and independent collegiate body of the Ukrainian government.- Mission and Authority :...
on February 26. On March 3 Ukrainian President Yanukovych suspended his membership in the Party (Yanukovych was barred by the Constitution
Constitution of Ukraine
The Constitution of Ukraine is the nation's fundamental law. The constitution was adopted and ratified at the 5th session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on 28 June 1996. The constitution was passed with 315 ayes out of 450 votes possible .Other laws and other normative legal acts of Ukraine...
from heading a political party) and handed over leadership in the party and in the parliamentary faction to Mykola Azarov
Mykola Azarov
Mykola Yanovych Azarov ; born Nikolai Yanovich Pakhlo on 17 December 1947, is a Ukrainian politician who has been the Prime Minister of Ukraine since 11 March 2010. He was the First Vice Prime Minister and Finance Minister from 2002 to 2005 and again from 2006 to 2007, and he also served as acting...
, 9 days later Azarov handed it to Oleksandr Yefremov. On March 11, 2010 together with Bloc Lytvyn and Communist Party of Ukraine
Communist Party of Ukraine
The Communist Party of Ukraine is a political party in Ukraine, currently led by Petro Symonenko.The party fights the Ukrainian national self-determination by identifying any Ukrainian national parties as the National-Fascist ones The Communist Party of Ukraine is a political party in Ukraine,...
the party joined the first Azarov Government
The party elected a new leader at its 12th congress on April 23, 2010. Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Ukraine
The Prime Minister of Ukraine is Ukraine's head of government presiding over the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which is the highest body of the executive branch of the Ukrainian government....
Mykola Azarov
Mykola Azarov
Mykola Yanovych Azarov ; born Nikolai Yanovich Pakhlo on 17 December 1947, is a Ukrainian politician who has been the Prime Minister of Ukraine since 11 March 2010. He was the First Vice Prime Minister and Finance Minister from 2002 to 2005 and again from 2006 to 2007, and he also served as acting...
was elected.
Seven extra deputies (four Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko (BYuT) members) joined the Party of Regions faction in October 2010. In March 2011 five more former BYuT deputies joined the faction.
During the 2010 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 the 2010 Crimean parliamentary election
Crimean parliamentary election, 2010
The 2010 Crimean parliamentary election where held on 31 October 2010 as a part of the general 2010 Ukrainian local elections. Unlike the previous election to the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea , they were conducted on the mixed member proportional representation system...
(where it won over 70% of the seats). It was the only party that did win representatives in all Ukrainian Oblasts where elections where held and it won in all but 4 Oblasts of those Oblasts the most votes (the 4 Oblasts where it didn't where situated in Western Ukraine
Western Ukraine
Western Ukraine may refer to:* Generally, the territories in the West of Ukraine* Eastern Galicia* West Ukrainian National Republic...
).
In September 2010, the party was planning to sign a memorandum on cooperation with China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
's Communist Party
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
.
In 14 October 2010, the Party of Regions formed a co-operative arrangement a with the Socialists and Democrats
Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats is the social-democratic political group in the European Parliament, formed by MEPs of the Party of European Socialists and allied centre-left parties. The group dates its ancestry via various names back to the beginning of the European...
European parliamentary group.
President Yanukovych and the Party of Regions have been accused of trying to create a "controlled democracy" in Ukraine and as a means to this are trying to "destroy" main opposition party BYuT, but both have denied this charges.
In August 2011 Strong Ukraine
Strong Ukraine
Strong Ukraine ; former Labour Party Ukraine , is a political party in Ukraine registered in August 1999. The party claims to have over 80,000 members as of mid-May 2010. It is currently negotiating a merge with the Party of Regions....
and People's Party
People's Party (Ukraine)
The People's Party is a political party in Ukraine. It was previously named as the Agrarian Party of Ukraine . The party is led by Volodymyr Lytvyn...
announced that both will merge with Party of Regions.
Party's electoral results
| Parliamentary since 1998 (year links to election page) |
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| Year | Votes | % | Mandates | |||||
| 1998 Ukrainian parliamentary election, 1998 The second Ukrainian parliamentary election after the collapse of the Soviet Union took place on 29 March 1998. In comparison to the first parliamentary election, this time half of 450 parliament seats were filled by single-seat majority winners in 225 electoral regions , and the other half were... |
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| 2002 Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2002 Ukrainian parliamentary election of 2002 took place on March 31. Half of the deputies to Verkhovna Rada were elected on proportional basis, while the other half were elected by popular vote in single-mandate constituencies... |
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| 2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2006 The Ukrainian parliamentary election took place on March 26, 2006. Election campaigning officially began on July 7, 2005. Between November 26 and December 31, 2005 party lists of candidates were formed.... |
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| 2007 Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2007 Early parliamentary elections in Ukraine took place on 30 September 2007. The date of the election was determined following agreement between the President Viktor Yushchenko, the Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Moroz on 27 May 2007, in an attempt... |
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| Presidential since 1999 (year links to election page) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Candidate | Votes | % | |||||
| 1999 Ukrainian presidential election, 1999 The Ukrainian presidential election, 1999 was a presidential election held in 1999 in Ukraine.There were 15 candidates originally with two withdrawing prior to election .... |
Leonid Kuchma Leonid Danylovych Kuchma was the second President of independent Ukraine from 19 July 1994, to 23 January 2005. Kuchma took office after winning the 1994 presidential election against his rival, incumbent Leonid Kravchuk... |
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| 2004 Ukrainian presidential election, 2004 The Ukrainian presidential election, 2004 was held on October 31, November 21 and December 26, 2004. The election was the fourth presidential election to take place in Ukraine following independence from the Soviet Union... |
Viktor Yanukovych Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych is a Ukrainian politician who has been the President of Ukraine since February 2010.Yanukovych served as the Governor of Donetsk Oblast from 1997 to 2002... |
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| 2010 Ukrainian presidential election, 2010 The Ukrainian presidential election of 2010 is Ukraine's fifth presidential election since declaring independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The first round was held on January 17, 2010... |
Viktor Yanukovych Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych is a Ukrainian politician who has been the President of Ukraine since February 2010.Yanukovych served as the Governor of Donetsk Oblast from 1997 to 2002... |
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According to a poll by the Kyiv International Sociology Institute the number of voters ready to go to polling stations to vote for Party of Regions dropped from 38% in June 2010 to 13.9% in April 2011.
Selected members
- Viktor Viktorovych YanukovychViktor Viktorovych YanukovychViktor Viktorovych Yanukovych is a Ukrainian politician, and son of the current leader of the influential Party of Regions. Yanukovych became a People's Deputy of Ukraine in the Verkhovna Rada at age 24, in May 2006 joined the same party as his father...
- member since May, 2006.
Several billionaires have been member of the Party of Regions faction in the Verkhovna Rada
Verkhovna Rada
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is Ukraine's parliament. The Verkhovna Rada is a unicameral parliament composed of 450 deputies, which is presided over by a chairman...
.
- Mykola AzarovMykola AzarovMykola Yanovych Azarov ; born Nikolai Yanovich Pakhlo on 17 December 1947, is a Ukrainian politician who has been the Prime Minister of Ukraine since 11 March 2010. He was the First Vice Prime Minister and Finance Minister from 2002 to 2005 and again from 2006 to 2007, and he also served as acting...
- leader of the party since 2010 - Oleksandr Yefremov - leader of the party's faction in the Verkhovna RadaVerkhovna RadaThe Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is Ukraine's parliament. The Verkhovna Rada is a unicameral parliament composed of 450 deputies, which is presided over by a chairman...
Vremya Regionov
Party of Regions publishes a nation-wideUkraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
called Время Регионов (Time of the Regions). The newspaper is based and published in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, the newspaper is released weekly, every Thursday
Thursday
Thursday is the fourth day of the week according to the ISO 8601 international standard adopted in most western countries. In countries that use the Sunday-first convention and in the Judeo-Christian calendar it is the fifth day of the week. It falls between Wednesday and Friday...
, in Ukrainian
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
and Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
. The newspaper was launched on 24 August, 2008. The newspaper is available online in PDF
Portable Document Format
Portable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
format.
See also
- Viktor YanukovychViktor YanukovychViktor Fedorovych Yanukovych is a Ukrainian politician who has been the President of Ukraine since February 2010.Yanukovych served as the Governor of Donetsk Oblast from 1997 to 2002...
- Rinat AkhmetovRinat AkhmetovRinat Leonidovych Akhmetov is a Ukrainian businessman. He is the founder and President of System Capital Management, and is ranked among the wealthiest men in the nation. Akhmetov is also the owner and President of the Ukrainian football club Shakhtar Donetsk...
- Yevhen KushnaryovYevhen KushnaryovYevhen Petrovych Kushnaryov was a prominent Ukrainian politician of the post-Soviet era. Kushnaryov was considered one of the chief ideologues of the Party of Regions and a key ally of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych....
- Alliance of National UnityAlliance of National UnityAlliance of National Unity was the name of the governing coalition of the Party of Regions, the Communist Party and the Socialist Party in Ukraine after the Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2006 and the 2006 Ukrainian political crisis...
- 2006 Ukrainian political crisis
- 2007 Ukrainian political crisis2007 Ukrainian political crisisThe political crisis in Ukraine lasted from April to June of 2007 was part of political stand off between coalition and opposition factions of Verkhovna Rada that led to the unscheduled Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2007...
- 2008 Ukrainian political crisis2008 Ukrainian political crisisThe 2008 Ukrainian political crisis started after President Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc withdrew from the governing coalition following a vote on a bill to limit the President's powers in which the Prime Minister's Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko voted with the opposition...
- Politics of UkrainePolitics of UkrainePolitics of Ukraine take place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the Cabinet. Legislative power is vested in the parliament...
External links
Official web site of the partyPress-center of the central staff on local elections Official website of the youth wing of Party of Regions Vremya Regionov