The out-of-favor Socialist Party of Ukraine appears to be trying to raise money by offering the opportunity to become a lawmaker on the party’s ticket in exchange for financial contributions.
But it could be money for nothing.
The Socialists lost the elections in 2007 after siding with the Party of Regions. While the move got its then party head, Oleksandr Moroz, elected speaker of parliament, voters saw his move as a betrayal. Moroz’s party had been a key element of the 2004 Orange Revolution coalition of ex-President Viktor Yushchenko and ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
Voters punished Moroz and the Socialists by throwing them out of parliament when they got the chance. The party is given almost no chance to get back into parliament in the Oct. 28 election, but it doesn’t mean they can’t try. Polls give the Socialists less than 1 percent support, a far cry from the 5 percent threshold for elections.
Half of Ukrainian 450-seat legislature is elected through party lists and the other half through single-mandate districts around the country, which could allow for Socialists to get into the legislature.
The party changed leadership several times and is currently chaired by fairly unknown Petro Ustenko, who was an assistant to long-time leader Moroz.
In a letter dated July 19, deputy party head Natalia Bondar addressed the regional organizations and asked activists to try to win financial and other support from local businesspeople. The letter also reads that party activists in each regions “should attract not less than Hr 300,000 ($37,500)” from such meetings.
The letter was published on July 20 by the Ukrainska Pravda news website, which broke the story.
In a separate sample letter addressed to businesspeople, the party is asking them for financial support and offering to discuss terms and conditions of cooperation during a separate meeting. “Today your active life position, your organizational and financial assistance are very important to us,” reads the sample letter.
Bondar confirmed its authenticity, but denied the party is selling spots on the party lists ahead of the parliamentary vote.
“This letter is purely my proposal, which has not been approved by the party leadership. We have an official letter, which we use to address entrepreneurs and ask them for help if they share values of socialism,” she told Ukrainska Pravda.
Fundraising is pervasive among all Ukrainian parties, big and small. According to political analyst Vadym Karasev, it’s their only choice, since the Ukrainian government provides no funding. So they have to hit up rich people, who often win spots on the party’s lists.
Hence, parliament is a club of millionaires and billionaires, including Donetsk-based Rinat Akhmetov and Kostyantyn Zhevago, to name only two lawmakers.
Kyv Post staff writer Yuriy Onyshkiv can be reached at [email protected]
