The Democratic Bloc ( uk, Демократичний Блок; ''Demokratychnyi Blok'') was a political
alliance
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
and an electoral bloc in
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
founded during the election campaign to participate in the
parliamentary election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
held in March 1990.
History
The elections in the spring of 1990 were the first where the Soviet-authorities allowed the formation of full-fledged political parties that varied in their political agendas.
Serhy Yekelchyk Serhy Yekelchyk (born November 13, 1966 in Kyiv) is a Ukrainian Canadian historian, who has published widely on modern Ukrainian and Russian history and Russian-Ukrainian relations.
Education and career
Yekelchyk received his B.A. from the Unive ...
''Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation'',
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
(2007), , page 187 The first democratic bloc that consisted of smaller parties was formed during the election. The "Democratic Bloc" included the
People's Movement of Ukraine
The People's Movement of Ukraine ( uk, Народний Рух України, Narodnyi Rukh Ukrayiny) is a Ukrainian political party and first opposition party in Soviet Ukraine. Often it is simply referred to as the Movement ( uk, Рух, R ...
Verkhovna Rada
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...
(Ukraine's parliament). The democratic deputies formed the "Narodna Rada" group, which consisted of around 90 to 125 members and was the opposition to the conservative-communist "group of 239" in the parliament ("for the sovereign Soviet Ukraine").
Ihor Yukhnovskyi
Ihor Yukhnovskyi ( uk, Iгор Рафаïлович Юхновський; also Yukhnovsky; born 1 September 1925) is a Ukrainian physicist and politician, and a member of the Presidium of Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Hero of Ukraine.
Life bef ...
became the leader of the group. The considered lack of parliamentary seats for the "Democratic Bloc" became one of the causes of the October 1990 " Revolution on Granite", the first of Ukraine's large-scale radical protest campaigns of Ukraine centered on
Maidan Nezalezhnosti
Maidan Nezalezhnosti ( uk, Майдан Незалежності , literally "Independence Square") is the central square of Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine. One of the city's main squares, it is located on Khreshchatyk Street in the Shevchen ...
(the other ones being the 2001 "
Ukraine without Kuchma
Ukraine without Kuchma ( uk, Україна без Кучми; ''Ukrayina bez Kuchmy'', Russian: Украина без Кучмы, UBK) was a mass protest campaign that took place in Ukraine in 2000–2001, demanding the resignation of President ...
", the 2004
Orange Revolution
The Orange Revolution ( uk, Помаранчева революція, translit=Pomarancheva revoliutsiia) was a series of protests and political events that took place in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005, in the immediate afterm ...
, and the 2013–14 Euromaidan).Where does the key to political change lie in the post-Soviet space?
openDemocracy
openDemocracy is an independent media platform and news website based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2001, openDemocracy states that through reporting and analysis of social and political issues, they seek to "challenge power and encourage de ...
(23 August 2016)The Conflict in Ukraine: What Everyone Needs to Know by
Serhy Yekelchyk Serhy Yekelchyk (born November 13, 1966 in Kyiv) is a Ukrainian Canadian historian, who has published widely on modern Ukrainian and Russian history and Russian-Ukrainian relations.
Education and career
Yekelchyk received his B.A. from the Unive ...
,
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 2015, (page 2)
During the next parliamentary election of 1994 the above-mentioned parties didn't cooperate as "Democratic Bloc" but rather went their separate ways. Eventually, by the end of the 2000s, the People's Movement of Ukraine became part of the Our Ukraine block. Helsinki Watch Committee of Ukraine ceased to exist. Its 1990s offspring,
Ukrainian Republican Party
The Ukrainian Republican Party ( uk, Українська Республіканська партія; ''Ukrajinska Respublikanska Partija'') was the first registered political party in Ukraine created on November 5, 1990
merged with
Ukrainian People's Party
The Ukrainian People's Party ( uk, Українська Народна Партія; ) is a political party in Ukraine, registered on Old Year's Day 1999 as the Ukrainian National Movement ( uk, Український Народний Рух; ).
and became part of Our Ukraine. The Green World Association transformed itself into the
Party of Greens of Ukraine
The Party of Greens of Ukraine ( uk, Партія зелених України, Partiia zelenykh Ukrayiny, PZU) is a Ukrainian green political party founded in 1990 by Yuriy Shcherbak and registered in May 1991.
The party is a successor of t ...
, but that party hasn't won any seats in the
Ukrainian Parliament
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...
Kyiv Post
The ''Kyiv Post'' is the oldest English-language newspaper in Ukraine, founded in October 1995 by Jed Sunden.
History
American Jed Sunden founded the ''Kyiv Post'' weekly newspaper on Oct. 18, 1995 and later created KP Media for his holdings. ...
'' (9 November 2012)They Call Themselves the Opposition ''
The Ukrainian Week
''The Ukrainian Week'' ( uk, Український Тиждень, translit=Ukrainskyi Tyzhden) is an illustrated weekly magazine covering politics, economics and the arts and aimed at the socially engaged Ukrainian-language reader. It provides ...
'' (31 August 2012)After the parliamentary elections in Ukraine: a tough victory for the Party of Regions ,
Centre for Eastern Studies
The Centre for Eastern Studies ( pl, Ośrodek Studiów Wschodnich, OSW) is a Warsaw-based think tank that undertakes independent research on the political, economic and social situation in Central and Eastern Europe, Balkans, Caucasus and Centra ...
RBK Ukraine
The RBC Group, or RosBiznesConsulting (russian: Группа компаний «РБК» РБК, РосБизнесКонсалтинг), is a Russian media group headquartered in Moscow. It was established in 1993.
The company holds an infor ...