History Party of Regions

1 history

1.1 party of regional revival of ukraine
1.2 creation of party of regions
1.3 electoral breakthrough

1.3.1 2006 parliamentary election results
1.3.2 2007 parliamentary election results


1.4 yanukovych presidency

1.4.1 2012 parliamentary election results


1.5 post-yanukovych presidency

1.5.1 yanukovych impeachment
1.5.2 criminal case against deputies
1.5.3 2014 parliamentary election , disintegration

history
party of regional revival of ukraine

the founding congress of party of regional revival of ukraine held on 26 october 1997 in kiev. first leader of party mayor of donetsk, volodymyr rybak. on 6 november 1997, party of regional revival of ukraine registered @ ukrainian ministry of justice. on 27 november 1997 there took place 1st party congress, adopted electoral party list , platform next elections. on 13 january 1998 parliamentary faction created in parliament of ukraine, party of regional revival of ukraine (head of coordination council – gennadiy samofalov).

during 1998 parliamentary elections party of regional revival of ukraine won 0.90% of votes. single party representative elected ukrainian parliament winning 1 constituency @ regular elections. party among top 10 in chernivtsi , donetsk oblasts. volodymyr rybak winner of constituency number 45 in donetsk oblast.

during 2nd party congress took place in 2 stages during spring of 1999 decided support presidential candidate leonid kuchma next presidential elections. recommended candidate include in election campaign propositions of party of regional revival of ukraine, including 1 on granting russian language official status. in summer of 1999, party entered electoral bloc our choice - leonid kuchma , consisting of 23 parties , led yevhen kushnaryov, endorsed incumbent president leonid kuchma in presidential election of 1999.

creation of party of regions

on 17 november 2000, 3rd extraordinary party congress adopted merger of 5 political parties, beautiful ukraine (leonid chernovetsky), all-ukrainian party of pensioners (a.kapusta), party of labor (valentyn landyk), party of solidarity of ukraine (petro poroshenko), , party of regional revival of ukraine (volodymyr rybak), new 1 under name of party of regional revival labor solidarity of ukraine . co-leaders of new political polity became valentyn landyk, petro poroshenko, , volodymyr rybak. also, prior merger party of solidarity of ukraine abandoned base party of serhiy dovhan, peasant party of ukraine, dissolved union solidarity. on february 21, 2001, ministry of justice registered newly established party of regional revival labour solidarity of ukraine .

on march 3, 2001, @ 3rd party congress, party changed name party of regions. @ congress mykola azarov, @ time chairman of state tax administration of ukraine, elected party leader, resigned in december 2001, being replaced deputy , @ time vice prime minister volodymyr semynozhenko. in interview newspaper den (ukrainian: День) on 6 march 2001, azarov said agreed become chairman brief period until party nominated leader claim office of president of ukraine in 2004 . in december 2001 party of regions member ihor yushchko appointed minister of finance of ukraine. on 21 march 2001, ministry of justice re-registered party under number 939 older date of registration.

on 23 may 2001, party signed agreement of partnership , cooperation party labour ukraine (serhiy tihipko), , on 7 june 2001, agrarian party of ukraine.

regions of ukraine parliamentary wing of party of regions; created @ end of march 2001 after several deputies defected original faction. critics claimed deputies lured away other factions pressure , analysts claimed of them had nothing new party. 9 out of seventeen members of faction had political , business roots in donetsk region. in july 2002 party had faction of 24 people (one deputy left faction later).

on 20 march 2001, solidarity announced single bloc . (eventually (solidarity) party became part of viktor yushchenko bloc our ukraine during 2002 parliamentary elections.)

during ukrainian parliamentary election party member of united ukraine electoral bloc. led volodymyr semynozhenko.

from 21 november 2002 until 7 december 2004, viktor yanukovych prime minister of ukraine.

at congress held on 19 april 2003 viktor yanukovych elected party leader, succeeding volodymyr semynozhenko. @ time party had 20 seats in parliament.

electoral breakthrough

the party shifted political ideology left , became more populist in nature before ukrainian presidential election, 2004 and, result, yanukovych won on large part of communist party s electorate in eastern ukraine. party announced support making russian second official language in ukraine, pro-russian foreign policy, , increased social spending. advocates regionalist ideology, , many members support making ukraine federation.

the party of regions moved opposition after candidate, viktor yanukovych, lost 2004 presidential election. party leader first claimed electoral victory, strong allegations of electoral fraud triggered series of events commonly known orange revolution. in re-run of presidential election ordered country s supreme court, viktor yanukovych lost election viktor yushchenko.

the party claimed victim of political persecution campaign organised new government, because borys kolesnykov, head of regional party branch , of donetsk regional council, arrested in april 2005 , charged criminal extortion. party of regions claimed act of political repression, while authorities believed kolesnykov had links organised crime , arrest purely criminal matter. council of europe called investigation in full compliance european standards . kolesnykov has since been cleared of charges , released pre-trial detention.

the party signed collaboration agreement in 2005 russia s united russia .

american consultant paul j. manafort has advised party , yanukovych since 2005.

map showing results of por percentage of total national vote per region 2006 parliamentary election.


2006 parliamentary election results

at parliamentary elections on 26 march 2006, party gained 32.14% of votes , 186 (out of 450) seats in verkhovna rada (the ukrainian parliament), forming largest parliamentary group. on 6 july 2006, socialist party of ukraine abandoned orange coalition between our ukraine , yulia tymoshenko bloc following failure of each bloc reach agreement on formation of governing coalition.

on 10 july 2006 new parliamentary majority titled anti-crisis coalition , led party of regions , including socialist party , communist party, formed, nominating viktor yanukovych post of prime minister.

the coalition remained in office until special parliamentary elections held in september 2007.

at crimean parliamentary election, 2006 party part of yanukovych! election bloc.

on 19 january 2007, yevhen kushnaryov, member of party of regions, died in izium result of accidental gunshot wound received while hunting.

in mid-2007, ukrainian republican party , labour ukraine merged party of regions.

map showing results of party of regions (percentage of total national vote) per region 2007 parliamentary election.


2007 parliamentary election results

at parliamentary elections held on 30 september 2007, party won 175 seats (losing 11 seats) out of 450 seats 34.37% of total national vote. party received highest number of votes, swing of +2.23% in comparison 2006 vote.

following formation of governing coalition between our ukraine , yulia tymoshenko bloc , election of yulia tymoshenko prime minister on 18 december 2007, party of regions formed parliamentary opposition.

on 13 march 2009, victor yanukovych stated party of regions ready unite coalition archrivals yulia tymoshenko bloc (byut). noted that: ready unite, on base of program on struggle crisis . previous day deputy leader of bloc of yulia tymoshenko faction, andriy portnov, said union of political force party of regions highly improbable, union of byut , party of regions possible after next ukrainian presidential elections. prime minister yulia tymoshenko stated on 17 march 2009 bloc ready join efforts regions party pass bills in ukrainian parliament (verkhovna rada). representative of regions party, [and] represent byut. s time join efforts benefit of country, tymoshenko said. on 30 march 2009 victor yanukovych stated did not believe in possibility of forming coalition yulia tymoshenko bloc in current parliament. @ same time added “it necessary agree on main issues” concerning amendments constitution of ukraine involving local self-government reform, judicial reform , clear division of authority among president, government , parliament. according yanukovych, talks byut still ongoing in late may 2008.

in june talks build national unity government address economic crisis collapsed, , yulia tymoshenko accused yanukovych of betrayal: unilaterally, without warning anyone, quit negotiation process, making loud political statement, killing merger , chances ukraine .

in september 2009 member of parliament vasyl kiselev expelled party , political council of party of regions. kiselev expelled “for violation of provisions , demands of charter of party of regions , harming reputation of party”.

in september 2009 mykola azarov announced creation of anti-fascist forum of ukraine, chairmen of member of parliament dmytro shentsev (kharkiv) , head of luhansk region state administration, valeriy holenko.

yanukovych presidency


electoral campaign party of region says in russian our party! (kharkiv, 31 october 2010)

the party of regions endorsed viktor yanukovych candidate 2010 presidential election. party intended create new coalition in verkhovna rada , form new government if yanukovych won 2010 presidential elections. yanukovych elected president of ukraine on 7 february 2010. on 19 february ukrainian parliament terminated powers of ukrainian member of parliament (mp) yanukovych, in place #179 on electoral list of party of regions @ 2007 parliamentary elections. tamara yehorenko registered mp central election commission of ukraine on 26 february. on 3 march ukrainian president yanukovych suspended membership in party (yanukovych barred constitution heading political party) , handed on leadership in party , in parliamentary faction mykola azarov. 9 days later azarov handed oleksandr yefremov. on 11 march 2010, bloc lytvyn , communist party of ukraine, party joined first azarov government.

the party elected new chairman @ 12th congress on 23 april 2010. prime minister mykola azarov elected.

seven deputies (four bloc yulia tymoshenko (byut) members) joined party of regions faction in october 2010. in march 2011 5 more former byut deputies joined faction. late november 2012 party of regions faction consisted of 195 lawmakers (20 more 175 elected in september 2007).

during 2010 ukrainian local elections party won majorities on regional , city councils of mayoralties (except in western ukraine), , in 2010 crimean parliamentary election (where won on 70% of seats). party won representatives in ukrainian oblasts elections held, , won votes in 4 of oblasts (the 4 oblasts did not situated in western ukraine).

in september 2010, party planning sign memorandum on cooperation china s communist party. on 14 october 2010, party of regions formed co-operative arrangement socialists , democrats european parliamentary group.

president yanukovych , party of regions have been accused of trying create controlled democracy in ukraine , means of trying destroy main opposition party byut, both have denied these charges.

2012 parliamentary election results

results in 2012 elections

in august 2011 strong ukraine , people s party announced both parties aimed merge party of regions. merger between people s party , party of regions did not materialise. strong ukraine , party of regions merged on 17 march 2012. (former) strong ukraine leader serhiy tyhypko unanimously elected party of regions deputy chairman , member of party of regions political council same day. party of regions parliamentarian olena bondarenko had stated (early march 2012) party of regions, strong ukraine party , party planned hold unity congress on 17 march 2012. no additional third party merged party of regions on 17 march 2012; according ukrainian media tyhypko had prevented merger of united centre party of regions in march 2012.

in october 2011 cooperation agreement signed in astana between kazakhstani nur otan , party of regions.

in late 2011, party s popularity dropped in opinion polls below 20%, because party losing votes communist party of ukraine.

in april 2012, top pr consultancy burson-marsteller hired represent interests of party of regions, them communicate activities governing party of ukraine, explain better position on yulia tymoshenko case , explained robert mack, senior manager @ burson-marsteller.

in october 2012 parliamentary elections party won 72 seats , 30% of votes under party-list proportional representation (falling 34% in 2007 , 32% in 2006) , 115 winning 115 simple-majority constituencies (it had competed in 204 of 225 constituencies); sum gave them total of 187 seats , 41,56% of 450 seats in ukrainian parliament. party had lost 2 million voters compared previous election. on 12 december 2012 party formed parliamentary faction of 210 deputies. on 31 december 2013 faction 204 votes strong.

at least 18 party of regions deputies have criminal ties, according hennadiy moskal, deputy head of parliament s committee on organized crime , corruption.

in june 2013, 148 people s deputies of ukraine signed letter polish sejm asking recognize volhynian tragedy genocide (uk:Звернення депутатів від Партії регіонів і КПУ до польського Сейму). total of 119 of parliamentarians members of party of regions, while other 23 communist party of ukraine.

post-yanukovych presidency
yanukovych impeachment

on 22 february 2014, during maidan revolution , verkhovna rada voted impeach honorary chairman of party, viktor yanukovych, president of ukraine. out of 38 por deputies present, 36 voted in favor of ousting yanukovych, while 2 did not take part in vote. simultaneously both yanukovych , former prime minister mykola azarov fled russia.

in written statement next day, party denounced yanukovych, stating condemn criminal orders led human victims, empty state treasury, huge debts, shame before eyes of ukrainian people , entire world.

late january 2014 party s symbol , activities banned in chernivtsi, ternopil , ivano-frankivsk regions. although there no legal basis these bans since in ukraine court can ban activities of political force.

the party of regions faction in zhytomyr announced dissolution on 19 february 2014, in connection crisis of preceding 3 months.

on 24 february 2014 faction leader oleksandr yefremov declared party moving opposition. 77 of mps had left faction on past few days.

on 25 february 2014 anatoliy kinakh , 32 other former por deputies created parliamentary faction economic development.

on 28 march 2014 yanukovych asked party of regions exclude him. next day, @ party congress, party nominated mykhailo dobkin presidential candidate 2014 ukrainian presidential election. congress expelled party yanukovych, azarov, former first deputy prime minister serhiy arbuzov, ex-chairman of ministry of revenue , duties olexander klimenko, former energy minister eduard stavitskyi, ex-governor of donetsk region andrew shishatskiy , valery konovalyuk.

on 7 april 2014 political council of party expelled sergiy tigipko, oleh tsariov , yuriy boiko party.

mykhailo dobkin por s candidate in snap presidential election of 25 may 2014, tallying 3 percent of vote.

on 3 june 2014 twenty por deputies left party s parliamentary faction. faction s strength reduced (at highest point on 12 december 2012) 210 deputies 80 deputies on 6 june 2014. by-product of became second biggest faction in parliament, after faction of batkivshchyna 85 members. on 2 july 2014 32 member strong new parliamentary faction peace , stability, composed of former party of regions mps, formed.

criminal case against deputies

on september 17, 2014, amidst ongoing war in donbass, group of 24 people s deputies of ukraine party of regions , communist party of ukraine, members of ukrainian parliamentary group peace , stability, met sergei naryshkin, chairman of russian state duma. on september 25, 2014, central investigation administration of ukrainian ministry of internal affairs opened criminal case against deputies charging them infringement on territorial integrity of ukraine.

2014 parliamentary election , disintegration

on 14 september 2014 party of regions chose not participate in 2014 parliamentary elections; party deemed election lacking legitimacy because residents of donbass not vote in election. many individual members of party of regions ended candidates of opposition bloc.

by summer of 2015 representatives of party in 2014 members of opposition bloc, revival or our land. others continued political careers in other parties (mostly petro poroshenko bloc); according ukrainian media research of february 2016 22% of petro poroshenko bloc representatives in regional councils , 12% of party parliamentary deputies former members of party of regions.