Opposition Bloc

For the party of the same name founded in 2019, see Opposition Bloc (2019).
Opposition Bloc
Ukrainian: Опозиційний блок
Russian: Оппозиционный блок
ChairmanRinat Akhmetov (one wing)
Dmytro Firtash & Yuriy Boyko (one wing)
Founded23 April 2010 (2010-04-23)
14 September 2014 (2014-09-14)
(as Opposition Bloc)
Dissolved13 December 2018
Merger of
Succeeded byOpposition Bloc — Party for Peace and Development (Akhmetov's wing)

Opposition Platform — For Life (Firtash's and Boyko's wing)
HeadquartersKyiv, Ukraine
Ideology
Political positionCentre to centre-left[7]
Oligarch associationDonetsk Clan[8]
Colours  Blue   White
Regions (2015)[9]
201 / 1,820
Website
opposition.org.ua Edit this at Wikidata

The Opposition Bloc (Ukrainian: Опозиційний блок, romanized: Opozitsiyniy blok, Russian: Оппозиционный блок, romanized: Oppozitsionniy blok) was a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine that was founded in 2014 by the merger of six parties that did not endorse Euromaidan.[10][11] Legally, the party was created by renaming the lesser-known party "Leading Force".[12] The party was perceived as the successor of the disbanded Party of Regions.[13][14]

In the 2014 election, the party won 29 seats predominantly in the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Kharkiv oblasts.[15][12] American lobbyist Paul Manafort acted as political consultant for the party.[16]

By January 2019 two wings of the party nominated two different candidates for the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election.[17][18][19] Yuriy Boyko for the Opposition Platform — For Life alliance[20] and Oleksandr Vilkul for Opposition Bloc — Party of Peace and Development (the recently renamed Industrial Party of Ukraine).[17] Both these two offsprings of Opposition Bloc took part independently of each other in the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election, with the Opposition Bloc — Party of Peace and Development (also) named into Opposition Bloc.[21]

  1. ^ Tadeusz A. Olszański (17 September 2014). Centre for Eastern Studies (ed.). "Ukraine's political parties at the start of the election campaign".
  2. ^ a b c Nordsieck, Wolfram (2014). "Ukraine". Parties and Elections in Europe. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019.
  3. ^ "Anti-recessionary Program of the Opposition bloc". Opposition.org.ua. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  4. ^ (in German) Selenskyjs Triumph birgt ein hohes Absturzrisiko, Wiener Zeitung (22 July 2019)
  5. ^ (in German) Ukraine: Präsident Selenskij steuert auf seinen zweiten Wahlsieg zu, Tageblatt (21 July 2019)
  6. ^ (in German) Kiew in der Hand der "Diener des Volkes" Archived 2019-07-24 at the Wayback Machine, Schwäbische Post (23 July 2019)
  7. ^ Yakymenko, Yury (2017). Transformation of the party system: Ukrainian experience in the European context (PDF) (in Ukrainian). Razumkov Center. p. 64-65.
  8. ^ "Rinat Akhmetov was one of the most powerful oligarchs in Ukraine with his own media empire. Why is he refusing her now?". Meduza. 15 July 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  9. ^ Кандидати, яких обрано депутатами рад. www.cvk.gov.ua (in Ukrainian). 15 November 2015. Archived from the original on 13 November 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference FPoR23914 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference political forces team up in Opposition Bloc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ a b (in Ukrainian) "OPPOSITION BLOCK", Civil movement "Chesno" (2018)
  13. ^ Kazanskyi, D. Revenge of separatism. 2014 will happen again, the question is when? (Реванш сепаратизма. 2014 год повторится, вопрос — когда?). Argument. 10 May 2017
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference KPOBFL91118 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Poroshenko Bloc to have greatest number of seats in parliament, Ukrinform (8 November 2014)
    People's Front 0.33% ahead of Poroshenko Bloc with all ballots counted in Ukraine elections - CEC, Interfax-Ukraine (8 November 2014)
    Poroshenko Bloc to get 132 seats in parliament - CEC, Interfax-Ukraine (8 November 2014)
  16. ^ "How Paul Manafort Wielded Power in Ukraine Before Advising Donald Trump". The New York Times. July 31, 2016. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  17. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference 4055712-vybory was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ (in Ukrainian) Opposition split. How Boyko and Vilkul divide the legacy of "regionalists", Ukrainska Pravda (18 December 2018)
  19. ^ (in Ukrainian) Odd-man-out. Why Leovochkin and Medvedchuk are preparing for the election without Akhmetov, Ukrainska Pravda (20 November 2018)
  20. ^ (in Ukrainian) Boyko began registering as a presidential candidate, Ukrainska Pravda (17 November 2018)
    (in Ukrainian) The association of Boyko-Rabinovich was determined with the presidential candidate, Ukrainska Pravda (17 November 2018)
  21. ^ "Вибори Ради: у списку Опоблоку мери 5 міст". Українська правда.