Many parties in Ukraine have very small memberships and are unknown to the general public.[3] Party membership in Ukraine is lower than 1% of the population eligible to vote (compared to an average 4.7% in the European Union[4]).[5][6] National parties currently not represented in Ukraine's national parliament Verkhovna Rada do have representatives in municipal councils.[7][8][9][10] Small parties used to join in multi-party coalitions (electoral blocks) for the purpose of participating in parliamentary elections, but on November 17, 2011, the Ukrainian Parliament approved an election law that banned the participation of blocs of political parties in parliamentary elections.[11] Ukrainian society's trust of political parties is very low overall.[3][12] According to an April 2014 poll by Razumkov Centre 14.7%.[13] According to a February 2020 poll by again Razumkov Centre, more than 70% of respondents said they rather or completely did not trust political parties.[3]
The Ukrainian oligarchs play a key role in sponsoring of political parties and participation in every day politics.[14]
Legal framework
Parties can only register with the Ministry of Justice if they can "demonstrate a base of support in two-thirds of Ukraine's Oblasts" (Ukraine's 24 primary administrative units) and in two-thirds of the raions of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.[15][16] This means that 10,000 signatures needs to be collected in these areas.[16] Including in Crimea, although Ukraine lost control of this territory in 2014 (to Russia).[16] (The only way to fulfill this norm is to get signatures of Ukrainian citizens living elsewhere in Ukraine with Crimean residence.[16]) Then within six months the party must establish regional offices in a majority of the 24 oblasts.[17] In practice these offices rarely stay active and open in-between elections.[17] Because of the procedural difficulties of registering a party the practice of renaming existing political forces is widespread.[16] (For instance, from January to September 2020 50 parties changed their name.[16]) In practice this means that long career politicians in Ukraine regularly switch to a new party.[16]
10 years in a row not nominating candidates for national parliamentary and presidential elections is a legal ground for liquidating a party.[3][nb 1]
Ukraine’s election law forbids outside financing of political parties or campaigns.[18]
All data on any legal political parties as any other public organizations in Ukraine is kept at the Single Registry (Ukrainian: Єдиний реєстр громадських формувань, Yedynyi reyestr hromadskykh formuvan), with online version of which provided by the Ministry of Justice.[19] On 1 January 2020 349 political parties were in this register.[3]
Major parties and political camps
There have developed two major movements[nb 2][nb 3] in the Ukrainian parliament since its independence:[22][23][24]
Professor Paul D'Anieri has argued (in 2006) that Ukrainian parties are "elite-based rather than mass-based,"[36] while former Ambassador of Germany to Ukraine (2000–2006) Dietmar Stüdemann from Embassy of Germany, Kyiv believes that personalities are more important in Ukrainian politics than (ideological) platforms. "Parties in the proper meaning of this word do not exist in Ukraine so far. A party for Germans is its platform first, and its personalities later."[37]
In the hastily organized 1994 parliamentary elections the communists surprisingly achieved the highest party rating, while the main opposing party, the Movement, did not gain even a quarter of their earned[clarification needed] seats. The re-formed party of the CP(b)U, the Socialist Party of Ukraine, and its major ally, the Peasant Party of Ukraine, performed relatively strongly. About a third of the elected parliamentarians were not affiliated. The elections became a major fiasco of the Democratic forces in Ukraine. After the 1994 elections numerous independent political parties were elected to the Ukrainian parliament, leading to the formation of nine deputy groups and parliamentary factions: Communists, Socialists, Agrarians, Inter-regional Deputy Group (MDG), Unity, Center, Statehood, Reforms, and the Movement. The concept of a "situational majority" was first used during that convocation to form a parliamentary coalition. The ruling coalition in the parliament often included the Communist Party of Ukraine, the Socialist Party of Ukraine, Agrarians, MDG, and Unity.
After the 2002 elections the Ukrainian parliament saw some consolidation of democratic political parties and the establishment of the main political camps in Ukraine: a coalition of nationally oriented deputies with the pro-European vector, a coalition of left-wing parties, and the pro-Russian parties coalition of the former Soviet nomenklatura. A major change took place during the Orange revolution when finally the two opposing political camps were established after the left-wing coalition split.
Mergers and bans (2011–present)
On 17 November 2011 the Ukrainian Parliament approved an election law that banned the participation of blocs of political parties in parliamentary elections;[11] since then several parties have merged with other parties.[53][54][55] Strong Ukraine merged with the Party of Regions on 17 March 2012.[56] Front of Changes and former Our Ukraine Bloc and Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko members performed in the 2012 parliamentary elections under "umbrella" party Fatherland.[57][58][59][60][61] Front for Changes leader Yatsenyuk headed this election list; because Fatherland-leader Yulia Tymoshenko was imprisoned.[62][63]
In preparation for the upcoming 2014 parliamentary elections, several ministers of the Fatherland party in the government of Arseniy Yatsenyuk moved to the new party People's Front, which elected as its party leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk on 10 September 2014.[69][70]
On 20 June 2024, also Our Land party was banned with the accusation of the Security Service of Ukraine of subversive activities against State, bringing to 19 the number of banned parties since the beginning of the Russian invasion.[73]
^Some Ukrainian parties could not be clearly classified as belonging to one of these two major movements, they were either synthesising the ideas of the two camps and/or strove to position themselves as a balancing force; examples of these parties are Socialist Party of Ukraine, Lytvyn Bloc and Labour Ukraine.[20]
^Ukrainian politicians have switched to parties that belong(ed) to another of these two major movements.[21]