Radical Party of Oleh Liashko
Радикальна Партія Олега Ляшка
LeaderOleh Liashko[1]
Founded28 September 2010 (2010-09-28)[1]
HeadquartersKyiv
Ideology
Political positionSyncretic
Colours  Red
Verkhovna Rada[10]
0 / 450
Regions[11]
582 / 43,122
Website
liashko.ua

The Radical Party of Oleh Liashko (Ukrainian: Радикальна Партія Олега Ляшка, romanized: Radykal'na partiia Oleha Liashka, RPOL)[1] and formerly known as the Ukrainian Radical-Democratic Party (Ukrainian: Українська демократично-радикальна партія), is a political party in Ukraine[12] that was registered in September 2010.[1] It was primarily known for its radical populism, especially in the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election when it gained its largest support.[13]

At the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, the party had won 1 seat.[14] The party won 22 seats at the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election.[15][16] In the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election it lost all those seats.[17]

History

Ukrainian Radical-Democratic Party

The logo of the Ukrainian Radical-Democratic Party

The party was established at the founding congress in Mykolaiv on 18 August 2010 and was then named the Ukrainian Radical-Democratic Party.[18] Under this name, it was registered with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on 28 September 2010.[1][18] At the time, the party was led by Vladyslav Telipko.[18]

Radical Party of Oleh Liashko

During its third party congress on 8 August 2011, Oleh Liashko was elected the new party leader.[18] The same day, the party changed its name to the Radical Party of Oleh Liashko.[19]

At the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, the party won 1.08% of the national votes and 1 constituency (it had competed in 28 constituencies)[20] for its leader Liashko,[21] who did not join a faction in the Verkhovna Rada.[22] The party was most successful in Chernihiv Oblast, where it received 10.69 percent of the vote, finishing fifth. The constituency that Liashko won was also located in Chernihiv Oblast.

According to political scientist Tadeusz A. Olszański, in mid-September 2014 the party was "a typical one-man party, centred around Oleh Liashko; its real organisational potential remains a mystery".[5] At the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election, the party's list was led by Liashko, with Serhii Melnychuk, commander of the Aidar Battalion, in third place, singer Zlata Ognevich in fourth place and Yurii Shukhevych, son of the military leader of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army Roman Shukhevych, in fifth place.[23] At the election, the party won 22 seats.[16] It received support from rural and regional voters who had previously supported Fatherland.[24]

On 21 November 2014, the party became a member of the coalition supporting the second Yatsenyuk government and sent one minister into this government.[25][26]

On 3 June 2015, the parliament stripped the party's MP Serhii Melnychuk of his parliamentary prosecutorial immunity rights as he was accused of forming a criminal gang, abductings and threatening people.[27]

The Radical Party left the second Yatsenyuk government coalition on 1 September 2015 in protest over a vote in parliament involving a change to the Ukrainian Constitution that would lead to decentralization and greater powers for areas held by pro-Russian separatists.[28] According to party leader Liashko, the party "can't stay in the coalition after anti-Ukrainian changes to the constitution, initiated by the president, were approved against the will of three parties of the coalition".[28] He was referring to his own party, Self Reliance and Fatherland.[29]

In the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election the party lost all its parliamentary seats, it gained about 1% too little to clear the 5% election threshold and also did not win an electoral district seat.[17] The party had participated in 65 single-mandate majority electoral districts.[30]

In the 2020 Ukrainian local elections 535 people won seats in local councils on behalf of the party, that is about 1.62% of the available seats.[31]

Ideology and stances

Observers had defined the party as left-wing,[32][33] right-wing,[34][35] and far-right.[36][37] The Radical Party is centered on Liashko, who is known for his populism and highly combative behavior. The party advocates a number of traditional left-leaning positions on economics[2][3][38] such as lower salary taxes, a ban on agricultural land sale and eliminating the illegal land market, a tenfold increase in budget spending on health and setting up primary health centres in every village[39] and mixes them with strong nationalist sentiments.[40] Anton Shekhovtsov of University College London considers Liashko's party to be similar to populist and nationalist.[41] A similar view is shared by political scientist Mattia Zulianello.[42]

The party has promised to purify the country of oligarchs "with a pitchfork".[43] It has proposed higher taxes on products manufactured by oligarchs and a crisis tax on the latter.[39]

The party wants to re-arm Ukraine with nuclear weapons.[43] The party also advocates an end to the Russo-Ukrainian War by the use of force.[5]

Party leader Liashko had stressed in May 2011 he had nothing against sexual minorities.[44] In a September 2015 interview with Ukrayinska Pravda, he stated that being an LGBT person "is the choice of each individual. I can not condemn".[45]

Party leaders

  • Vladyslav Telipko (2010–2011)
  • Oleh Liashko (2011–present)

Election results

Results in the 2012 elections
Results in the 2014 elections

Verkhovna Rada

Year Popular vote % of popular vote Overall seats won Seat change Government
2012 221,136 1.08
1 / 450
Increase 1 Opposition
2014 1,171,697 7.45
22 / 450
Increase 21 Coalition government (until 2015),
Opposition (2015−19)
2019 586,294 4.01
0 / 450
Decrease 22 Extra-parliamentary

Presidential elections

President of Ukraine
Election year Candidate No. of 1st round votes % of 1st round vote No. of 2nd round votes % of 2nd round vote
2014 Oleh Liashko 1,500,377 8.32
2019 Oleh Liashko 1,036,003 5.48

See also

  • Category:Radical Party of Oleh Liashko politicians

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Політична партія «Радикальна Партія Олега Ляшка» [Political party «Radical Party of Oleh Liashko»] (in Ukrainian). DATA. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  2. 1 2 Noack, Rick (14 August 2014). "Why Ukrainian politicians keep beating each other up". The Washington Post. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  3. 1 2 Arsenyi Svynarenko (29 August 2014). "Ukraine's political landscape is shifting". Politiikasta.fi. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  4. Kuzio, Taras (26 August 2014). "Ukraine is heading for new parliamentary elections, but the country still lacks real political parties". LSE EUROPP Blog. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 Tadeusz A. Olszański (17 September 2014). "Ukraine's political parties at the start of the election campaign". OSW: Centre for Eastern Studies. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  6. "Ukraine MP injured in 'assassination attempt'". BBC News. 2017-10-25. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
  7. "End Of The Orange-Blue Divide: Ukraine Vote May Produce New Political Landscape". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
  8. "The political landscape is shifting in Ukraine". Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  9. de Borja Lasheras, Francisco (22 December 2016). "Ukraine's rising Euroscepticism". European Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  10. "Депутатські фракції і групи VII скликання" (in Ukrainian). "Deputy fractions and Groups". Verkhovna Rada official website.
  11. Кандидати, яких обрано депутатами рад. www.cvk.gov.ua (in Ukrainian). 24 January 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  12. "Lyashko: No sponsors, tycoons or deputies on election list of Radical Party". Kyiv Post. 8 August 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  13. "A strong vote for reform: Ukraine after the parliamentary elections". OSW Centre for Eastern Studies. 2014-10-29. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
  14. "Party of Regions gets 185 seats in Ukrainian parliament, Batkivschyna 101 - CEC". Interfax-Ukraine. 12 November 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  15. Olena Goncharova; Ian Bateson (29 October 2014). "Poroshenko and Yatsenyuk's parties maneuver for lead role in coalition". Kyiv Post. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
    "New Verkhovna Rada". Kyiv Post. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  16. 1 2 "Poroshenko Bloc to have greatest number of seats in parliament". Ukrainian Television and Radio. 8 November 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
    "People's Front 0.33% ahead of Poroshenko Bloc with all ballots counted in Ukraine elections - CEC". Interfax-Ukraine. 8 November 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
    "Poroshenko Bloc to get 132 seats in parliament - CEC". Interfax-Ukraine. 8 November 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
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    (in Russian) Results of the extraordinary elections of the People's Deputies of Ukraine 2019, Ukrayinska Pravda (21 July 2019)
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  20. Радикальна партія Олега Ляшка [Radical Party of Oleh Liashko] (in Ukrainian). RBC Ukraine. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  21. (in Ukrainian) Proportional votes Archived 2012-10-30 at the Wayback Machine & Constituency seats Archived 2012-11-05 at the Wayback Machine, Central Election Commission of Ukraine Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  22. "National deputies of Ukraine:Oleh Liashko". Verkhovna Rada. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  23. "Ukraine Votes On Oct. 26 To Elect New Parliament". Kyiv Post. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  24. Tadeusz A. Olszański (29 October 2014), A strong vote for reform: Ukraine after the parliamentary elections, OSW—Centre for Eastern Studies, retrieved 29 November 2017
  25. "Rada supports coalition-proposed government lineup". Interfax-Ukraine. 2 December 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
    "Rada approves new Cabinet with three foreigners". Kyiv Post. 2 December 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
    "Rada voted the new Cabinet" Рада проголосувала новий кабмін. Ukrayinska Pravda (in Ukrainian). 2 December 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
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    "Ukraine's parliamentary parties initial coalition agreement". Interfax-Ukraine. 21 November 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  27. "Ukrainian Parliament strips two MP's of their immunity from prosecution". Ukraine Today. 3 June 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  28. 1 2 "Ukraine Radical Party Quits Ruling Coalition After Deadly Clash". Bloomberg News. 1 September 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  29. "Departure of nationalists unlikely to break up Ukrainian ruling coalition and will improve likelihood of decentralization". Jane's Information Group. 3 September 2015. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  30. "Електоральна пам'ять". ukr.vote.
  31. (in Ukrainian) The CEC showed the top 10 parties that won the most seats in the election, Ukrayinska Pravda (18 November 2020)
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  33. Cura, Ali (2016-11-15). "Ukrainian politicians fight in parliament". Anadolu Agency. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
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  35. Liubchenkova, Natalia (2019-07-18). "Ukraine parliamentary election: What you need to know". euronews. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
  36. Salem, Harriet (2014-10-25). "Ukraine's President Faces Pressure from Radical Pro-War Parties Ahead of Election". Vice. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
  37. "Ukraine PM Yatsenyuk Survives No-Confidence Vote In Parliament". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
  38. Taras Kuzio (26 August 2014). "Ukraine is heading for new parliamentary elections, but the country still lacks real political parties". LSE EUROPP Blog. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  39. 1 2 "The Communist Party May Be on Its Last Legs, But Social Populism is Still Alive". The Ukrainian Week. 23 October 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  40. David M. Herszenhorn (24 October 2014). "With Stunts and Vigilante Escapades, a Populist Gains Ground in Ukraine". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  41. Shekhovtsov, Anton (2014-05-29). "Ukraine's presidential election and the far right". Anton Shekhovtsov's blog.
  42. Zulianello, Mattia (2019). "Varieties of Populist Parties and Party Systems in Europe: From State-of-the-Art to the Application of a Novel Classification Scheme to 66 Parties in 33 Countries" (PDF). Government and Opposition: 6.
  43. 1 2 "Ukraine election: What to look for". BBC News. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  44. "A. Lyashko: each of us a role to play". Ukrainian National News. May 19, 2011. Archived from the original on November 26, 2014. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
  45. "З усіх вил: звідки взявся та до чого дійшов Олег Ляшко" (in Russian). "Of all the twisted, and where did what came Oleh Liashko". Ukrayinska Pravda. 18 September 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
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