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Abstract
Ukraine’s Opposition Bloc, despite its importance, has attracted little scholarly attention. This study discusses the Opposition Bloc’s genesis, internal struggles, and attempts to extend its influence. Although the Opposition Bloc originated from the remnants of the Party of Regions, some deputies from that party distanced themselves from the late leadership of Viktor Yanukovych, a development that led to the emergence of the Opposition Bloc. Additionally, the Opposition Bloc has endured internal party struggles, a development reflected in the party’s relationships with its financial patrons. This study also examines the Opposition Bloc’s failures to develop its influence in some areas, particularly focusing on the Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv regions.
Acknowledgement
This article is a revised version of the discussion paper presented at the annual ASEEES convention in 2017 and at the seminar in the Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, in February 2018. I wish to thank all the participants, especially Paul D’Anieri, Kimitaka Matsuzato, Erik Herron and Mark Teramae.
Notes
1 See also Eisenstadt and Roniger (Citation1980).
2 It is possible to characterise the Opposition Bloc as, for example, an oligarchic party. In my view, however, an oligarchic party is a sub-category of a clientelistic party. This article follows a largely accepted typology of political parties as clientelistic or programmatic.
3 Central Electoral Commission website, available at: http://www.cvk.gov.ua/, accessed 8 January 2018.
4 See also, ‘Clan Wars: Why the Dnipropetrovsk Clan Lost to the Donetsk Clan and the Chances of a Comeback’, The Ukrainian Week, 9 October 2015, available at: http://ukrainianweek.com/Politics/148369, accessed 8 January 2018.
5 Also, interview with Arsen Stetskiv, expert of Razumkov Center, Kyiv, 10 July 2017.
6 Telephone interview with Oleksandr Kasianiuk, leader of the Party of Regions’ regional branch in Donetsk, 17 March 2014.
7 Technically, the Opposition Bloc has existed on paper since 23 April 2010. See the Central Electoral Commission website’s registration search, available at: http://rgf.informjust.ua/home/index, accessed 8 January 2018.
8 Central Electoral Commission website, available at: http://www.cvk.gov.ua/, accessed 8 January 2018.
9 The Supreme Rada website, available at: http://itd.rada.gov.ua/mps/fraction/page/2616, accessed 8 January 2018.
10 In elections in post-Soviet countries, the influential candidates in the party list (such as Putin for United Russia) are frequently referred to as ‘locomotives’.
11 ‘Opoblok na grani raskola. Boiko oprovergaet’, Ukrainskaya Pravda, 20 January 2017, available at: http://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2017/01/20/7133027/, accessed 8 January 2018. See also ‘Akhmetov gotovit raskol “Oppobloka”’, Ukrainskaya Pravda, 25 January 2017, available at: http://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2017/01/25/7133436/, accessed 8 January 2018.
12 ‘Akhmetov, Levochkin i Medvedchuk reshayut budushchee “Oppobloka”—zhurnalist’, Unian, 26 January 2017, available at: https://www.unian.net/politics/1744807-ahmetov-levochkin-i-medvedchuk-reshayut-buduschee-oppobloka-jurnalist.html, accessed 27 April 2020.
13 Interview with Oleksandr Kasianiuk, co-chairman of the executive committee of the Opposition Bloc, Kyiv, 15 February 2017.
14 Interview with Andrii Ermolaev, director of the Institute of Strategic Research, ‘New Ukraine’, Kyiv, 17 February 2017.
15 Interview with Oleksandr Kasianiuk, co-chairman of the executive committee of the Opposition Bloc, Kyiv, 15 February 2017.
16 ‘Partiia regionov’, Liga. Dos’e, available at: https://file.liga.net/parties/partiya_regionov, accessed 17 April 2020.
17 Interview with Oleksandr Kasianiuk, co-chairman of the executive committee of the Opposition Bloc, Kyiv, 15 February 2017.
18 Erik Herron made an invaluable comment on an earlier draft of this article, noting that the Opposition Bloc as a large parliamentary faction still has some administrative resources, as demonstrated by its access to regional and local election management bodies (see also Herron Citation2017). This factor may certainly contribute to the Opposition Bloc’s performance in the future, but it does not seem to have had a significant effect in the 2015 local elections.
19 ‘Narodnyi deputat Ukrainy IV sklykannia: Dobkin Mykhailo Markovych’, Supreme Rada website, available at: http://itd.rada.gov.ua/mps/info/expage/5578/5, accessed 8 January 2018.
20 ‘Mer Khar’kova Kernes v reanimatsii posle pokusheniya’, BBC Russia, 24 April 2014, available at: http://www.bbc.com/russian/international/2014/04/140428_kharkiv_kernes_assassination_attempt, accessed 8 January 2018.
21 Interviews with: Anton Avsent’ev, lecturer, Kharkiv National University, Kharkiv, 24 July 2017; Oleksyi Krysenko, associate professor, Kharkiv National University, Kharkiv, 25 July 2017; Yuliia Bidenko, lecturer, Kharkiv National University, Kharkiv, 25 July 2017.
22 ‘Vybory narodnykh deputativ Ukrainy 2012’, Central Electoral Commission, available at: https://www.cvk.gov.ua/pls/vnd2012/wp315pt001f01=900.html, accessed 18 April 2020.
23 Interview with Yuliia Bidenko, lecturer, Kharkiv National University, Kharkiv, 25 July 2017. See also Shapovalova and Jarábik (Citation2018).
24 Interview with Oleksyi Krysenko, associate professor, Kharkiv National University, Kharkiv, 25 July 2017.
25 Interview with Yuliia Bidenko, lecturer, Kharkiv National University, Kharkiv, 25 July 2017.
26 Dobkin later claimed that Yanukovych was supposed to attend the congress of deputies of south-east Ukraine that took place on 22 February 2014, though he did not appear. This statement may suggest that Dobkin did not know of Yanukovych’s intention to flee Ukraine. See ‘Dobkin povtorno vyzvan na dopros po delu o pokushenii na Yanukovicha’, Interfax Ukraine, 26 July 2019, available at: https://interfax.com.ua/news/general/603842.html, accessed 19 April 2020.
27 Interview with Vyktoriia Shevchuk, director, NGO Observatory of Democracy, Kharkiv, 24 July 2017.
28 Interviews with Anton Avkset’ev, lecturer, Kharkiv National University, Kharkiv, 24 July 2017, and Vyktoriia Shevchuk, director, NGO Observatory of Democracy, Kharkiv, 24 July 2017.
29 ‘Kernes poidet v mery ot partii “Vidrodzhennya”’, Ukrainskaya Pravda, 22 September 2015, available at: https://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2015/09/22/7082273/ accessed 8 January 2018.
30 Interview with Oleksyi Krysenko, associate professor, Kharkiv National University, Kharkiv, 25 July 2017.
31 Kernes, however, denied his connection with Kolomois’kyi. See ‘Kernes rasskazal ob otnosheniyakh s Kolomoiskim i Khomutynnikom’, Ukrainskaya Pravda, 9 October 2016, available at: https://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2016/10/8/7123054/, accessed 18 January 2018.
32 Interview with Yuliia Bidenko, lecturer, Kharkiv National University, Kharkiv, 25 July 2017.
33 Interview with Viktor Poshchenko, lecturer, Dnipropetrovsk National University, Dnipropetrovsk, 18 March 2015.
34 ‘Kakim Dneproptrovsk zapomnil Vilkula’, Forbes Ukraina, March 2013, available at: http://forbes.net.ua/magazine/forbes/1348316-kakim-dnepropetrovsk-zapomnil-vilkula, accessed 8 January 2018.
35 ‘Kakim Dneproptrovsk zapomnil Vilkula’, Forbes Ukraina, March 2013, available at: http://forbes.net.ua/magazine/forbes/1348316-kakim-dnepropetrovsk-zapomnil-vilkula, accessed 8 January 2018.
36 Interview with Anzhelika Pilipenko, Dnipro city council deputy, Dnipropetrovsk city, 19 March 2015. See also ‘Anzhelika Pilipenko: v Verkhovnuiu radu bez byuzheta’, Zabeba.li, 11 July 2016, available at: https://zabeba.li/interview/anzhelika-pilipenko-v-verhovnuyu-radu-bez-byudzheta, accessed 8 January 2018.
37 ‘Dnipropetrovska miska rada’, Central Electoral Commission, available at: https://www.cvk.gov.ua/pls/vm2010/wm02815pid112=30pid102=4364pf7691=4364rej=0pt00_t001f01=800pxto=0.html, accessed 18 April 2020.
38 Interview with Anzhelika Pilipenko, Dnipro city council deputy, Dnipropetrovsk city, 19 March 2015.
39 Interview with Anzhelika Pilipenko, Dnipro city council deputy, Dnipro city (please note: Dnipropetrovsk was renamed Dnipro in May 2016), 18 July 2017. See also, ‘Anzhelika Pilipenko: v Verkhovnuiu radu bez byuzheta’, Zabeba.li, 11 July 2016, available at: https://zabeba.li/interview/anzhelika-pilipenko-v-verhovnuyu-radu-bez-byudzheta, accessed 8 January 2018. See also, ‘Filatov ne mozhet otkryt’ sessiyu Dnepropetrovskogo gorsoveta’, Ukrainskaya Pravda, 4 December 2015, http://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2015/12/4/7091361/, accessed 8 January 2018; ‘V Dnepropetrovske gorodskie deputaty ne golosuyut, poka Filatov ne sdast mandat’, Ukrainskaya Pravda, 21 December 2015, available at: http://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2015/12/21/7093217/, accessed 8 January 2018.
40 ‘Oppoblok isklyuchil Epifantsevu, kotoraya ushla k Filatou’, Ukrainskaya Pravda, 24 February 2016, https://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2016/02/24/7100159/, accessed 18 April 2020.
41 Interview with Anzhelika Pilipenko, Dnipro city council deputy, Dnipro city, 18 July 2017. Later the deputy group ‘For Dnipropetrovsk’ joined the ‘Our Land’ (Nash Krai) Party that was backed by deputy mayor Oleksandr Sydorenko. ‘V Dneprovskom gorsovete storonnikov Prezidenta bol’she stalo’, Vlast’ Dnepr, 11 October 2017, available at: http://vlada.dp.ua/novosti/item/1316-v-dneprovskom-gorsovete-storonnikov-prezidenta-bolshe-stalo.html, accessed 8 January 2018.
42 Interview with Anzhelika Pilipenko, Dnipro city council deputy, Dnipro city, 18 July 2017.
43 ‘“Za mir i stabil’nost”. Kak Krivoi Rog vybral Vilkula merom’, Ukrainskaya Pravda, 29 March 2016, available at: http://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/articles/2016/03/29/7103731/, accessed 8 January 2018.
44 ‘V Krivom Roge—obyski, zamestitelyu mera ob”yavleno o podozrenii’, Ukrainskaya Pravda, 17 May 2017, available at: http://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2017/05/17/7144207/, accessed 8 January 2018.
45 ‘V Krivorozhskom gorsovete snova obyski’, Ukrainskaya Pravda, 6 June 2017, available at: http://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2017/06/6/7146116/, accessed 8 January 2018.
46 Dnipropetrovsk city was renamed as Dnipro in June 2016.
47 Interview with Oleksandr Kasianiuk, co-chairman of the executive committee of the Opposition Bloc, Kyiv, 15 February 2017.
48 ‘Kto komu Rabinovich, Chto na samom dele proiskhodit v partii “Za zhizn’”’, Strana.ua, available at: https://strana.ua/articles/analysis/85553-rabinovich.html, accessed 8 January 2018.
49 ‘Boiko i Levochkina isklyuchil iz Oppobloka’, Ukrainskaya Pravda, 20 November 2018, available at: https://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2018/11/20/7198739/?fbclid=IwAR3BAaGPCd5o5K91UUCfmowPO1-wn9GFEhxfm_Xptpfue4kD_F2gbb3QatA, accessed 19 April 2020.
50 ‘Vybory narodnykh deputativ Ukrainy’, Central Electoral Commission, available at: https://www.cvk.gov.ua/pls/vnd2019/wp300pt001f01=919.html, accessed 19 April 2020.
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Atsushi Ogushi
Atsushi Ogushi, Professor, Department of Politics, Faculty of Law, Keio University, Japan. Email: [email protected]