Suspended

 source: Liberation, CheckNews, March 24, 2022

author: Jacques Pezet

translation: GoogleTranslate/doxa-louise

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Question asked by Colette on March 22

Did Volodymyr Zelensky suspend eleven Ukrainian opposition parties?

The Ukrainian president announced the suspension of eleven political parties during martial law, accusing them of being too close to Russia. Three of them, including the first opposition party, are represented in the Ukrainian Parliament.

On March 20, in a statement to the Ukrainian people, President Volodymyr Zelensky attacked his political opponents "who try to put their own ambitions, their own party or their careers before the interests of the state, the interests of the people" and announced the decision of its National Security and Defense Council: "In view of the total war waged by the Russian Federation and the links of certain political structures with this state, any activity of 'a number of political parties during martial law is suspended.' The leader said the Department of Justice was instructed to 'immediately take comprehensive measures to prohibit the activities'of the following eleven political parties: "Opposition Platform-For Life", "Shariy Party", "Nashi", "Opposition Bloc", "Left Opposition", "Union of of the left”, “Derzhava”, the “Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine”, the “Socialist Party”, the “Socialists” and the “Bloc of Vladimir Saldo”.

Among the parties concerned is the "Opposition Platform-For Life", the first opposition party, which obtained 43 seats out of 450 in the last legislative elections of 2019 . "Nashi", which is part of the "Opposition Bloc" alliance, has a total of six deputies. For the rest, the suspended parties are small parties, which do not have representatives in the Rada, the Ukrainian Parliament.

The other main political parties, Yulia Tymoshenko's All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" (26 seats), Petro Poroshenko's European Solidarity (25 seats) or Voice (20 seats) are still authorized in Ukraine.

“Illegal political raid”

In a column published on the website of the Qatari television channel Aljazeera , the researcher associated with the Institute for East European Studies at the Freie Universität in Berlin, Volodymyr Ishchenko, confirms that with the exception of Opposition Platform -For life, “the majority of suspended parties were small, and some were downright insignificant.” However, this Ukrainian sociologist observes that "three of the recently suspended parties participated in the 2019 parliamentary elections and together obtained around 2.7 million votes (18.3%)" and that "in the last polls carried out before the invasion of Russia, these parties collectively obtained around 16% to 20% of the vote”.

Following the announcement of its suspension, the "Opposition Platform-For Life" party, known for its pro-Russian positions (one of its former leaders, deputy Viktor Medvedchuk, currently on the run, counts Vladimir Putin as a godfather of his daughter), published a press release in which he denounces a decision "without any legal basis". “All the charges against our party were fabricated by the authorities in order to justify their inadequate actions. The only explanation for such a step by the authorities is an illegal political raid and an unscrupulous political struggle with their main opponent. Instead of political dialogue, finding a compromise and finding ways to unite the country, the authorities have relied on raids, intimidation, repression and reprisals against their opponents.”In January 2022, the British Foreign Office also warned of the "Nashi" party, believing that Moscow would seek to install a pro-Russian administration in Ukraine and place its leader Yevhen Murayev at the head of the country.

However, in his op-ed for Aljazeera , Volodymyr Ishchenko considers the meaning of the expression "pro-Russian" in Ukraine, explaining that it is a portmanteau word, where one can place both supporters marked for Russia, but who have been marginalized since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, to the defense of a position of neutrality with regard to the Russian and European bloc. “Parties and politicians who have been branded 'pro-Russian' in Ukraine – and recently suspended by the Zelensky government – ​​have very different relations with Russia. While some may have links to Russia's soft power efforts – although these links are rarely properly investigated and proven – others are themselves subject to Russian sanctions., writes the researcher.

Recalling that "virtually all the leaders and representatives of the [left] parties with real influence on Ukraine", but also the "Opposition Platform-For Life" party (which dismissed the deputy who was too close to Putin of its leadership), "condemned the invasion of Russia and are now contributing to the defense of Ukraine" , Volodymyr Ishchenko believes that the Ukrainian President is making a mistake in suspending these political parties because if their supporters "are convinced that they have no political future in Ukraine and instead risk being persecuted, they might well start turning to Russia”.