People's Movement of Ukraine

The People's Movement of Ukraine (Rukh) (Ukrainian: Народний Рух України, Narodnyi Rukh Ukrajiny) is a Ukrainian center-right political party. The party is an observer member of the European People's Party (EPP).

The Party gathers most of its voters and support from western Ukraine.

History

Public movement

Initially organized as the People's Movement of Ukraine for the Reconstruction (perestroika) was founded in 1989 as a civil-political movement as there were no other parties allowed in the Soviet Union but the Communist Party. This being made possible due to Mikhail Gorbachev's Glasnost policies.^[3] The program and statutes of the movement were proposed by the Writers Association of Ukraine and were published in the journal Literary Ukraine (Literaturna Ukraina) on February 16, 1989. The organization takes its roots in Ukrainian dissidents, most notable of them — Vyacheslav Chornovil, yet not excluding the fact that it was accepting various other politically oriented members from the liberal communists to the integralist nationalists. During the 1989 (March - September) numerous constituent party conferences took place across Ukraine. The first Constituent Congress of the "People's Movement of Ukraine for Reconstruction" took place on September 8–10, 1989 in Kiev. The first leader of the movement was elected the Ukrainian poet and screenwriter Ivan Drach.

The official Soviet press and government portrayed members as anti-Semites at first.^[4]

The biggest public, political, cultural, and social actions were:

• Human chain (1990) - a chain of volunteers that has stretched around 350 miles (or 550 km) all the way from the city of Lviv to the city of Kiev, the capitals of the two former Ukrainian states that signed the Act Zluky (Unification act) on January 22, 1919. According to the Department of Internal Affairs (Ukrainian SSR) there were only 450,000 participants, while the organizers claimed that there were between four to five million.
• Mass excursions (1990) - festivities near Nikopol and Zaporizhia to celebrate the 500 Anniversary of the Zaporizhian Cossacks from September 7 through 12.
• various activities near Berestechko, Baturyn, Lubny, and Khotyn.

At first the movement aimed at supporting Gorbachev's reforms^[3], later People's Movement of Ukraine was instrumental in conducting an independence referendum in the Ukrainian SSR. This was partially due to the Russification policies of the Soviet Union when the USSR Supreme Soviet officially announced the Russian language as the singular official state language of the country in 1989. During Rukh's existence within the Soviet Union, its members were threatened and intimidated.^[3] In the western oblasts "Rukh" became colloquially known as an abbreviation for the call Save Ukraine, fellows! (Рятуйте Україну, Хлоптці!).^[5]

Political party

The movement initially registered by the Ministry of Justice on February 9, 1990 as the political party. After the creation of the Ukrainian Republican Party (URP) in January 1990 and later Democratic Party of Ukraine (DemPU), the People's Movement of Ukraine unofficially existed as a coalition of the those two along with numerous other smaller factions. These parties created a group within the Verkhovna Rada called the People's Council which stood in opposition to the so-called Group 239, headed by Oleksandr Moroz (For the sovereign Soviet Ukraine) (see Ukrainian parliamentary election, 1990). In October 1990 took place the second Party Congress. During the session it was decided to exclude the word Reconstruction (Perestroika), not to be associated with the Communist movement. The head of the Party was elected once again Ivan Drach, while his deputies became Mykhailo Horyn and Oleksandr Lavrynovych. In order to draw closer URP and DemPU was established the Institute of Associative Membership in the Movement. The brittle coalition of the mentioned parties held until the presidential elections in September 1991 when URP and DemPU provided their own candidates as the opposition to Vyacheslav Chornovil.

On February 28 - March 1, 1992 took place the third Party Congress during which it was avoid the schism within the Party by reelecting a leadership triad of Ivan Drach, Mykhailo Horyn, and Vyacheslav Chornovil. The new deputies were M.Boychyshyn, O.Burakovsky, V.Burlakov, and O.Lavrynovych. The coalition formally was recognized as dissolved due to both URP and DemPU declared themselves the presidential supporters. The People's Movement of Ukraine declared its opposition and in January 1992 re-registered due to substantial changes of its statues. Soon Ivan Drach has left the party, followed by the acquittance of Mykhailo Horyn in June 1992 together with V.Burlakov. Horyn was soon elected the head of the Ukrainian Republican Party. In December 1992 took place the IV Party Congress which once again revised its statute and the party goals. The party leader was elected Vyacheslav Chornovil, the rest party leadership was left without major changes. During the Congress the party delegates in opposition to Chornovil created the All-National Movement of Ukraine (VNRU), headed by Larysa Skoryk.

The People's Movement of Ukraine was registered by the Ukrainian ministry of Justice as a political party on February 1, 1993.^[2] At the parliamentary elections on 29 March 1998, the party received 9,4% of the vote^[2] and 46 seats. At the parliamentary elections on 30 March 2002, the party was part of the Viktor Yushchenko Bloc Our Ukraine. Currently, Rukh was a part of the Our Ukraine Bloc^[2], where it represents the right wing of Union's party spectrum. At the parliamentary elections on 26 March 2006, the party was part of the Our Ukraine alliance^[2], and the party's members secured 13 seats in the parliament. At the 2007 parliamentary elections the party was again part of the Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc alliance^[2], that won 72 out of 450 seats.

In the 2010 local elections the party won 8 representative in the regional parliament of the Lviv Oblast, 3 representative in the regional parliament of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, 1 in Kherson Oblast, 5 in the Supreme Council of Crimea and 3 seats in the city counsels of Lviv and Simferopol.^[6]

Political Platform

Directly out of the official website:

• Further strengthening and development of the democratic roots of Ukrainian national statehood;
• Implementing the ideas of democracy, pluralism, social solidarity, and open society;
• Rebuilding the national economy on the principles of a freely competitive market system;
• Facilitating the development of private entrepreneurship;
• Systemic agrarian reform;
• Ensuring social security for every citizen, social assistance for those in need;
• Pension reform;
• The cultural revival of Ukrainian society, of the Ukrainian people's national identity, of the Ukrainian language in all spheres of public life;
• Integration into the EU and NATO as a vital cornerstone of Ukraine's foreign policy.

Elections history

References

External links

• (English) Movement's history from the official website