The Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc ( uk, Блок Наша Україна–Народна Самооборона, ''Blok Nasha Ukrayina-Narodna Samooborona'', NUNS; until 2007 named Our Ukraine Bloc) was an

electoral alliance An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political party, political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand ...

active 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 ...

from 2001 until 2012, associated with former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Viktor Yushchenko Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko ( uk, Віктор Андрійович Ющенко, ; born 23 February 1954) is a Ukrainian politician who was the third president of Ukraine from 23 January 2005 to 25 February 2010. As an informal leader of th ...

. Since 2005, the bloc had been dominated by a core consisting of the

People's Union "Our Ukraine" The Our Ukraine ( uk, Наша Україна) (prior to mid-July 2009 known as People's Union "Our Ukraine" ( uk, Народний Союз «Наша Україна»)) is a centre-right political party of Ukraine formed in 2005.

party and five smaller partner parties. On 17 November 2011, the Ukrainian Parliament approved an election law that banned the participation of blocs of political parties in

parliamentary elections 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 ( ...

.Parliament passes law on parliamentary elections

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. ...

(17 November 2011) Since then several members of the Bloc have since merged with other parties. The Our Ukraine Bloc was most closely associated with the

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 continued to use

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

as its

political colour Political colours are colours used to represent a political ideology, movement or party, either officially or unofficially. It is the intersection of colour symbolism and political symbolism. Parties in different countries with similar ideolo ...

. In July 2007, the old Our Ukraine bloc had been reorganized into the Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc for the 2007 parliamentary election in September 2007.

History

The original Our Ukraine Bloc formed in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

in 2001 in preparation for the 2002 parliamentary elections as the Electoral Bloc of Viktor Yushchenko "Our Ukraine". At the time of its formation

led the bloc. Over years the alliance changed its name, becoming: * in 2002: Bloc of Viktor Yushchenko "Our Ukraine" (BVYNU) * in 2006: the Our Ukraine Bloc (BNU) * in 2007: the Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc (BNU-NS)

Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2002

At the 2002

legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...

, won 23.6% of the popular vote and 112 out of 450 seats. It was the first time when

Communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a so ...

failed to take the first place in vote. Final poll results in 2002 had predicted the bloc to win 27-28% of the total votes. The alliance included the following parties: ;Top 10 members In September 2002, the bloc was negotiating with nine pro-presidential ( Kuchma) factions to form a coalition, a draft of a coalition agreement prepared by Our Ukraine faction member Yuri Kostenko and

Labor Ukraine Labour Ukraine ( uk, Трудова Україна ''Trudova Ukrajina'')
Database DATA is a political party in Ukraine regi ...

leader

Serhiy Tyhypko Serhiy Leonidovych Tihipko ( uk, Сергій Леонідович Тiгiпко; born 13 February 1960) is a Ukrainian politician and finance specialist who was Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine. Tihipko was Minister of Economics in 2000 and subse ...

was received by all faction leaders on 20 September 2009 (except by the leaders of the

Socialist Party of Ukraine The Socialist Party of Ukraine ( uk, Соціалістична Партія України, translit=Sotsialistychna Partiia Ukrayiny, SPU) was a social democratic and democratic socialist political party in Ukraine. It was one of the oldest par ...

, the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

and the

Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc ( uk, Блок Юлії Тимошенко, БЮТ; Blok Yuliyi Tymoshenko, BYuT) was the name of the bloc of political parties in Ukraine led by Yulia Tymoshenko since 2001. In November 2011, the participation of bloc ...

). However the coalition never materialised. Between 2002 and 2004, the parliamentary faction of the bloc gradually lost members and by September 2005 it had 44 members (in May 2002 this number had been 119).

Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2006

During the election campaign some

Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc ( uk, Блок Юлії Тимошенко, БЮТ; Blok Yuliyi Tymoshenko, BYuT) was the name of the bloc of political parties in Ukraine led by Yulia Tymoshenko since 2001. In November 2011, the participation of blocs ...

members suspected Our Ukraine to be responsible for leaflets aimed against

Yulia Tymoshenko Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko ( uk, Юлія Володимирівна Тимошенко, ; Hrihyan ();McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

. The "Our Ukraine" bloc was soundly defeated in the 2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election with only 13,95% of the recorded vote and came in third place behind the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc- 22% and 156 seats, and the

Party of Regions The Party of Regions ( uk, Партія регіонів, Partiia rehioniv, ; russian: Партия регионов, Partiya regionov) was a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine formed in late 1997 that then grew to be the biggest party of U ...

-33% and 175 seats. It won 81 out of 450 seats. The alliance included the following parties: *

People's Union Our Ukraine The Our Ukraine ( uk, Наша Україна) (prior to mid-July 2009 known as People's Union "Our Ukraine" ( uk, Народний Союз «Наша Україна»)) is a centre-right political party of Ukraine formed in 2005.

(40) *

Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Ukraine The Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Ukraine ( uk, Партія промисловців i підприємців України) is a political party in Ukraine registered in April 2000. Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Anatoliy Kinakh ...

(7) *

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 ...

(10) * Christian Democratic Union (3) *

Ukrainian Republican Party Assembly Republican Platform ( uk, Республіканська платформа) is a political party in Ukraine. It was the first registered political party in Ukraine, created on November 5, 1990 Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists The Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists ( uk, Конгрес українських націоналістів ''Konhres ukrayinskykh natsionalistiv'') is a far-right political party in Ukraine. It was founded on October 18, 1992, and registered wit ...

(3) *Unaffiliated members (15) Following the elections there has been calls for Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko who was closely aligned and spokesperson for Our Ukraine during the March Parliamentary election to resign from Our Ukraine and to stand independent. Initially the Our Ukraine Bloc intended to join the Alliance of National Unity coalition and five of its ministers where initially appointed into the

Cabinet of Ministers A cabinet is a body of high-ranking state officials, typically consisting of the executive branch's top leaders. Members of a cabinet are usually called cabinet ministers or secretaries. The function of a cabinet varies: in some countrie ...

; Justice Minister Roman Zvarych, Family and Sports Minister

Yuriy Pavlenko Yurii Oleksiiovych Pavlenko ( uk, Павле́нко Ю́рій Олексі́йович) is a Ukrainian politician and administrator, and former children's ombudsman of Ukraine. Biography Born in Kyiv in 1975, Pavlenko studied history at Ukrain ...

, Emergency Situations Minister

Viktor Baloha Viktor Ivanovych Baloha ( uk, Віктор Іванович Балога, born 15 June 1963, Zavydovo) is a Ukrainian politician and the former emergency situations minister. Early life and education Viktor Baloha was born on 15 June 1963 ...

, Culture Minister Ihor Likhovyy, and Health Minister Yuriy Polyachenko. Only 30 of the 80 deputies from Our Ukraine Bloc voted for approval of this Cabinet on 10 August 2006.Ukraine: a government without a coalition

RIA Novosti RIA Novosti (russian: РИА Новости), sometimes referred to as RIAN () or RIA (russian: РИА, label=none) is a Russian state-owned domestic news agency. On 9 December 2013 by a decree of Vladimir Putin it was liquidated and its asse ...

(10 August 2006) However Our Ukraine Bloc did not join the coalition and it wanted the

to leave the coalition before they would enter it. Meanwhile, several parties member of the Bloc announced they would go into opposition and would never join the coalition. By November 2006 the five Our Ukraine Bloc ministers where dismissed by parliament or withdrawn by Our Ukraine Bloc. ;Top 10 members

Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2007

On 5 July 2007, 10 parties signed up to form the Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc for the 2007 parliamentary election in September 2007. The

Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists The Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists ( uk, Конгрес українських націоналістів ''Konhres ukrayinskykh natsionalistiv'') is a far-right political party in Ukraine. It was founded on October 18, 1992, and registered wit ...

refused to join the Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc in August 2007 and instead did not run in the elections. In these elections the Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc came third, after the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and the Party of Regions. Our Ukraine-People's Self Defense bloc won 72 seats and received 14.16% of the vote, 236,964 fewer votes in 2007 than the Our Ukraine bloc received in 2006, representing an overall swing of +0.20%. The alliance included the following parties: On 15 October 2007, despite the

gaining the most seats of all participating political parties, Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc agreed to form a majority coalition in the new parliament of the 6th

convocation A convocation (from the Latin ''wikt:convocare, convocare'' meaning "to call/come together", a translation of the Ancient Greek, Greek wikt:ἐκκλησία, ἐκκλησία ''ekklēsia'') is a group of people formally assembled for a speci ...

. On 29 November, a coalition was signed between the

and Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc (representing 45% of the national vote). On 18 December 2007,

Yulia Tymoshenko Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko ( uk, Юлія Володимирівна Тимошенко, ; Hrihyan ();People’s Self-Defense decided to end its participation in the process of forming a united party since then that process remained unclear.

Disintegration and creation of United Centre

In February 2008, several prominent members resigned from the party.

, Head of the President's Secretariat resigned on 15 February (to lift the issue of the correlation between the authorities as the President’s Chief of Staff and as a member of the OU-PSD presidium).

Roman Bezsmertny Roman Petrovych Bezsmertnyi ( uk, Роман Петрович Безсмертний; born 15 November 1965 in Makariv Raion of Kyiv Oblast, Soviet Union) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician, member of Verkhovna Rada (parliament) for four convocati ...

, high ranked party official, along with people’s deputies, Mykhaylo Polyanchych, Ihor Kryl, Viktor Topolov, Oksana Bilozir and Vasyl Petevka resigned on 20 February, in a joint statement the declared that: "some of the leaders of the party play their own game, coming from personal interests and it has nothing to do with responsibility, pluralism and norms of democracy." Some of them formed

United Centre Andriy Baloha's Team ( uk, Команда Андрія Балоги, Komanda Andriya Balohy; formerly United Centre) is a Ukrainian political party. It is an offspring of Our Ukraine. Legally, Andriy Baloha's Team is the successor of the Party o ...

who wanted to participate in the next parliamentary election independently. One of the main goals at the time was: "assisting President

Viktor Yuschenko Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko ( uk, Віктор Андрійович Ющенко, ; born 23 February 1954) is a Ukrainian politician who was the third president of Ukraine from 23 January 2005 to 25 February 2010. As an informal leader of th ...

to realize its program of actions".

2008 Ukrainian political crisis

On 21 October 2008, the presidium of People’s Union Our Ukraine party decided not to team up with any other party for the upcoming snap parliamentary poll and called the idea of teaming up with United Center Party "impossible". According to

UNIAN The UNIAN or Ukrainian Independent Information Agency of News ( uk, Українське Незалежне Інформаційне Агентство Новин, УНІАН, translit=Ukrayins'ke Nezalezhne Informatsiyne Ahentstvo Novyn) is a ...

the People’s Union Our Ukraine and

parties will carry out a unifying congress on 17 January 2009. The People’s Democratic party may join the move. On 23 October the Christian Democratic Union left the alliance and became part of the

Leonid Chernovetskyi Bloc Leonid Chernovetskyi Bloc ( uk, Блок Леоніда Черновецького) was a regional political alliance supporting the Mayor of Kyiv Leonid Chernovetskyi based in the city of Kyiv. At the 2008 combined Kyiv Mayoral election and Kyi ...

. After a coalition was formed mid-December 2008 between Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc (OU-OSD),

Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc ( uk, Блок Юлії Тимошенко, БЮТ; Blok Yuliyi Tymoshenko, BYuT) was the name of the bloc of political parties in Ukraine led by Yulia Tymoshenko since 2001. In November 2011, the participation of blocs ...

(BYuT) and

Lytvyn Bloc The Lytvyn Bloc, formerly Lytvyn's People's Bloc, ( uk, Блок Литвина, formerly Народний блок Литвина) was a centrist political alliance in Ukraine from 2006 till 2012 led by Volodymyr Lytvyn. It is one of successors ...

(LB) Yushchenko told journalists: "The fact is that the so-called coalition was formed on basis of political corruption, this coalition will be able to work only if the

will join it. Speaking about such a type of coalition, it is even more shameful." Victor Yushchenko also stated that

Yulia Tymoshenko Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko ( uk, Юлія Володимирівна Тимошенко, ; Hrihyan ();Prime Minister's job was the main motive for creating the coalition and that he wanted to expel the Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc lawmakers who supported the creating of the OU-PSD, BYuT and LB coalition from the list of members of parliament. According to the President Our Ukraine decided earlier at a party confession that it was impossible to resume its coalition with BYuT. Yuschenko described this as "a positive process, a process of purification. I have long waited that our people decide on their political choice, on their place in the party. They have made their choice, and I respect it".

Viktor Yanukovych presidency

During the January 2010 presidential election some bloc members did not endorse the bloc leader

: the Christian Democratic Union, the

European Party of Ukraine The European Party of Ukraine ( uk, Європейська партія України) is a Ukrainian political party registered by the Ministry of Justice on August 3, 2006. Its ideology is social-liberalism, when the state should maintain ha ...

, the

Civil Movement "People's Self-Defense" Civil Movement "People's Self-Defense" ( uk, Громадянський рух «Народна самооборона») is a political movement in Ukraine, headed by a former SPU member Yuriy Lutsenko. History Yuriy Lutsenko created People's S ...

and

Forward, Ukraine! Third Ukrainian Republic ( uk, Третя Українська Республіка) is a political party in Ukraine. The party was formally named (from its creation in May 1999 till April 2010) Forward, Ukraine! ( uk, Вперед, Україно ...

endorsed

Yulia Tymoshenko Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko ( uk, Юлія Володимирівна Тимошенко, ; Hrihyan ();Second Tymoshenko Government coalition. The faction did reserve the right to negotiate a possible majority coalition with other parliamentary factions apart from the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc; according to faction leader

Mykola Martynenko Mykola Volodymyrovych Martynenko ( uk, Микола Володимирович Мартиненко; born 12 January 1961) is a Ukrainian politician who was formerly a People's Deputy of Ukraine, as a member of the People's Front. Martynenko w ...

the faction had offered to appoint its representative to the post of

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

to prevent the concentration of power in one pair of hands and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc faction had flatly refused to surrender the post of prime minister. On 11 March 2010 the Our Ukraine- People's Self Defense faction officially announced that it would be in opposition to the newly formed coalition.Our Ukraine- People's Self Defense faction goes to opposition

(11 March 2010) Martynenko stated the faction "did not intend 'to play under a scenario,' which proposes changes to the law on the regulations amending a procedure for the creation of the coalition". On 12 May 2010 the parliamentary faction officially went into opposition. The Our Ukraine - People's Self-Defense faction wanted to expel its seven members who backed ratification of the

2010 Ukrainian–Russian Naval Base for Natural Gas treaty The Agreement between Ukraine and Russia on the Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine, widely referred to as the Kharkiv Pact ( ua, Харківський пакт) or Kharkov Accords (russian: Харьковские соглашения), was a treaty betw ...

in May 2010. In October 2010 one deputy of the Our Ukraine - People's Self-Defense Bloc faction joined the

faction. Twelve parliamentarians were expelled from the fraction in September 2011 for joining the governing coalition and/or for voting for the 2010 Ukrainian–Russian Natural Gas treaty.People's Self-Defense faction: Twelve parliamentarians expelled from Our Ukraine

(7 September 2011) However, since only one of those twelve left the faction when

Oleksandr Omelchenko Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Omelchenko ( uk, Олександр Олександрович Омельченко; 9 August 1938 – 25 November 2021) was a Ukrainian politician who served as mayor of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, first elected in 1 ...

left voluntary. Also in September, faction leader Mykola Martynenko joined the

Front of Changes Front for Change ( uk, Фронт Змін) is a Ukrainian public organization and a former political party in Ukraine, both led by Arseniy Yatsenyuk.parliamentary elections 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 ( ...

. Therefore, the bloc could not participate in the 2012 parliamentary election. Our Ukraine and

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; ).

, Ukrainian Republican Party "Sobor" and

People's Self-Defense Political Party Third Ukrainian Republic ( uk, Третя Українська Республіка) is a political party in Ukraine. The party was formally named (from its creation in May 1999 till April 2010) Forward, Ukraine! ( uk, Вперед, Україн ...

(formally Forward, Ukraine!) have since merged with other parties. The

campaigned on one single party list during the 2012 parliamentary elections with (among others) former members of the

- the

All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" The All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" ( uk, Всеукраїнське об'єднання "Батьківщина", translit=Vseukrains'ke obiednannia "Bat'kivshchyna") referred to as Batkivshchyna (), is a political party in Ukraine led by Peo ...

and the

Reforms and Order Party Party Reform and Order ( uk, Партія «Реформи і порядок» ''Partiya Reformy i Poriadok'') was a liberal political party in Ukraine.

Ukr elections 2012 multimandate oblasts nu

The core party of the alliance, the

, teamed up with the

and with the

in the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election. Former leader of Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc

headed this election list."Наша Україна" хоче бути альтернативою усім учасникам виборів ''"Our Ukraine" wants to be an alternative to all election participants ''

BBC Ukrainian BBC News Ukrainian ( uk, BBC News Україна) is the Ukrainian service of the BBC which conveys the latest political, social, economical and sport news relevant to Ukraine and the world. It started broadcasts in 1992.

(31 July 2012) In these election this combination won 1.11% of the national votes and no

constituencies An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

and thus failed to win parliamentary representation.Proportional votes

,

Central Election Commission of Ukraine The Central Election Commission of Ukraine ( uk, Центральна виборча комісія України, commonly abbreviated in Ukrainian as ЦВК (''Tse-Ve-Ka''); sometimes referred to as the Central Electoral Commission of Ukrai ...

By late November 2012 the Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc faction consisted of 63 lawmakers of the original 72 elected in September 2007.Депутатські фракції
,

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 ...

Bloc's electoral results

Results per region

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense Bloc 2001 establishments in Ukraine 2012 disestablishments in Ukraine Defunct political party alliances in Ukraine Orange Revolution Parliamentary factions in Ukraine Pro-European political parties in Ukraine Ukrainian democracy movements Viktor Yushchenko Conservative parties in Ukraine Liberal parties in Ukraine