Some countries get by with just one. A lot rely on only two or three big ones. But newly independent Ukraine currently has 98 – and will soon have 99 – political parties.
Some countries get by with just one. A lot rely on only two or three big ones. But newly independent Ukraine currently has 98 – and will soon have 99 – political parties.
The latest one appeared last weekend, when one of Ukraine’s most influential parliamentary parties split down the middle, producing two parties with similar names and ideologies, but different leaderships and degrees of political influence.
The newly created party, Partiya Trudova Ukraina (Laboring Ukraine Party) held a founding congress on May 19, announcing its split from Trudova Partiya Ukrainy (Labor Party of Ukraine).
The split was initiated by the leaders of the second-largest faction in parliament, which includes 38 deputies and is financed by metal and gas tycoons Viktor Pinchuk and Ihor Sharov. All were members, or were closely involved in Trudova Partiya Ukrainy.
Meanwhile, two days after the birth of its twin, the Trudova Partiya Ukrainy held a congress to declare that it had “expelled the oligarchs.”
“We want to create a real mass organization that will push society toward a normal political process,” Trudova Partiya Ukrainy leader Mykhailo Syrota told the Post.
Syrota left Pinchuk’s and Sharov’s parliamentary faction in January along with several other deputies. The rival party spokesman said the latest party split merely reaffirmed the de facto situation.
“This is just the legal registration of the state of affairs that has been in place since January this year,” said Roman Klym, spokesman for Partiya Trudova Ukraina, the newly formed party.
Ukrainian parties splinter regularly, most often over the conflicting ambitions of their leaders rather than ideology. The country already has several social democratic, national democratic, liberal, and Christian-democratic parties.
Currently, a total of 98 political parties are officially registered in Ukraine, according to the Justice Ministry.
The two new labor parties claim to have more than 20 regional offices each and an ideology similar to other European labor parties.
