Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united)

On May 25–27, 1990, the Constituent Congress of the Social Democratic Organizations of Ukraine was held in Kiev, in which 86 delegates took part. The ideological contradictions arose between the two groups, as a result of which two separate congresses were held and two parties were created: SDPU (o) and SDPU ^[1] . SDPU was an associate member of the People's Rukh of Ukraine in 1990-1992. In October 1991, at the II (extraordinary) congress, she decided to support presidential candidate Vyacheslav Chornovol and called on her supporters to support the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine at an all-Ukrainian referendum ^[1] .

On November 1, 1991, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine registered the SDPU. At the time of the IV Congress in November 1992, the party had 1,356 members.

In 1995, the SDPU leadership decided to unite with the Human Rights Party (Civil Rights Party) and the Justice Party. The Minister of Justice Vasily Onopenko was elected the leader of the SDPU, and lawyer Viktor Medvedchuk was elected his deputy. On April 27, 1996, Onopenko’s supporters convened a congress at which it was decided to rename the party into the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united), Viktor Medvedchuk becomes deputy head of the party ^[1] . SDPU (o) was registered with the Ministry of Justice on July 1, 1996.

On April 27, 1996, at a congress of the SDPU, it was decided to rename the party into the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (United) (SDPU (o)).

In the fall of 1998, Medvedchuk, Surkis et al. Imposed an internal party discussion that culminated in the actual expulsion of the Onopenko group from the SDPU (o) (he created the Ukrainian Social Democratic Party (USDP) ^[4] . Eugene Marchuk , former head of the SBU and former prime minister , supported Medvedchuk.

In the 1999 presidential election, the party supported incumbent President Kuchma.

The SDPU (o) faction in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the 3rd and 4th convocations in 1998-2006 was headed by Leonid Kravchuk (from May to December 1998 the parliamentary faction of the party was headed by Yevgeny Marchuk ).

In 2004, the SDPU entered into a coalition with parliamentary majority factions ( Party of Regions , Labor Ukraine , Agrarian Party of Ukraine , People’s Democratic Party , Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Ukraine , Regions of Ukraine, Democratic Initiatives, People’s Choice, "Democracy"), pledged to amend the Constitution, ensure the victory of a single candidate in the upcoming presidential elections in Ukraine and create a coalition in elections to parliament and local governments in 2006 ^[5] .

Viktor Medvedchuk announced his intention to resign as chairman of the SDPU (o) on March 29, 2006, and resigned by September, but the Politburo rejected his proposal, proposing to do so at the XXI Party Congress (held in two stages in the summer of 2007 ^[6] ). On August 17, 2007, Yuri Zagorodni was elected chairman of the SDPU (o), and Igor Shurma was elected first deputy chairman.

On April 26, 2006, in connection with the defeat of the SDPU (o) in the elections, Leonid Kravchuk announced his intention to “quit the party’s governing bodies and engage in social and political activities in a freer mode”, without being tied to one party.

In the second government of Yanukovych, the SDPU (o) was represented by Minister for Emergency Situations Nestor Shufrich (he joined the Party of Regions in August 2007) and Minister of Labor and Social Policy Mikhail Papiev. According to a statement by Nestor Shufrich in March 2007, “SDPU (o) is, if you will, in the wake of the Party of Regions. We have given ourselves, all our capabilities, for the victory of Yanukovych ... Now we sympathize and support the Party of Regions and the coalition together with the government ” ^[6] .

In September 2009, the SDPU (o), together with the Communist Party of Ukraine , the Justice party and the Union of Left Forces , entered the Bloc of Left and Center-Left Forces . The chairman of the Communist Party Petro Symonenko was proclaimed the single candidate in the presidential election in 2010 . ^[7] .

In the 1998 parliamentary elections, the party gained 4.01%, and held 14 parliamentaries and 3 single-mandate candidates in parliament.

In the 2002 parliamentary elections, the SDPU (o) received 6.27%. The size of the faction was 37 people, of which 19 were on the party list ^{[8] [9]} .

In the 2006 parliamentary elections, the SDPU (o) was not able to overcome the 3% barrier. The party participated in the elections as part of the “ Not so! ”, Which received a total of 257 106 votes (1.01%). The SDPU was counting on an alliance with the Party of Regions, but the latter decided to act independently ^[10] .

The party did not take part in the 2007 parliamentary elections in Ukraine , as it considered them illegal. Party members were encouraged to support the Party of Regions in the elections, on the election list of which the representatives of the SDPU (o) were delegated. ^[11] Both decisions were adopted by the 21st Party Congress.

Number of Party Members

As of the summer of 2001, the number of party members was 243,000 ^[2] , in 2004 there were more than 400,000 ^[12] , by 2007 the party had about 20 thousand “party members who subscribe to the party newspaper and pay membership dues” ^[13] .

Congresses

• I (constituent), May 27, 1990; ІІ (extraordinary), Donetsk, October 1991, 52 delegates; ІІІ, Kiev, May 1992, 59 delegates; ІV, Kiev, November 1992, 110 delegates; V (unifying), 1993; VІ, 1994; VII, 1994
• XII, 1997 - at the suggestion of Marchuk, it was decided to declare the party as opposition (a year later, at the XIII Congress, political scientists will note the absence of the slightest mention of the opposition, as well as criticism of the current government ^[4] ).
• XIII, October 1998 - Viktor Medvedchuk was elected chairman of the party.
• XVII, 2003 - on the procedure for nominating a single candidate from the parliamentary majority for the presidency of Ukraine.
• XVIII, July 2004, Kharkov - support for the candidacy of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych for the post of president of Ukraine.
• XX, December 2005, Kiev, 1147 delegates - the creation of an electoral bloc ( "Not so!" ) Together with the Republican Party of Ukraine , VO "Women for the Future" and VO "Center" (1008 votes in favor).
• XXI, summer 2007, Kiev - Yuri Zagorodni was elected party chairman.
• XXII ^[14] , October 2009, 249 delegates, Kiev - formation, together with the Communist Party , the Justice party and the Union of Leftist Forces, of the electoral bloc " Leftist and Left-Centrist Forces " (244 votes in favor); support for the nomination as a single candidate for the presidency of Ukraine in the 2010 elections, Petro Symonenko (236 votes in favor).

• Chairman (since August 2007) - Yuri Zagorodni .
• 1st Deputy (since August 2007) - Igor Shurma .
• Deputies: Alexey Mustafin (since April 2005), Efim Fix (since April 2005).

• Social Democratic Party of Ukraine
• Ukrainian Social Democratic Party (USDP), since 2012 renamed the party " Ukraine - Go Forward!" "
• Ukrainian Social Democratic Labor Party (USDLP), from 1905 to 1969
• Opposition bloc "Not so!"
• Socialtern

• Official site of the SDPU (o) (Russian) (Ukrainian)