The Radical Party of Oleh Liashko ( uk, Радикальна Партія Олега Ляшка, translit=Radykal'na partiia Oleha Liashka, RPOL) and formerly known as the Ukrainian Radical-Democratic Party ( uk, Українська демократично-радикальна партія), is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

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 ...

that was registered in September 2010. It was primarily known for its radical populism, especially in the

2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election Snap elections to the Verkhovna Rada took place on 26 October 2014. Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine, had pressed for early parliamentary elections since his victory in the presidential election in May.2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election The Ukrainian parliamentary election of 2012 took place on 28 October 2012.2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election Snap elections to the Verkhovna Rada took place on 26 October 2014. Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine, had pressed for early parliamentary elections since his victory in the presidential election in May.

In the

2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election Snap elections to the Ukrainian parliament were held on 21 July 2019. Originally scheduled to be held at the end of October, these elections were brought forward after newly inaugurated President of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dissolv ...

it lost all those seats.CEC counts 100 percent of vote in Ukraine's parliamentary elections

Ukrinform The National News Agency of Ukraine ( uk, Українське національне інформаційне агентство), or Ukrinform ( uk, Укрінформ), is a state information and news agency, and international broadcaster of ...

(26 July 2019)Results of the extraordinary elections of the People's Deputies of Ukraine 2019

Ukrayinska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' ( uk, Українська правда, lit=Ukrainian Truth) is a Ukrainian online newspaper founded by Georgiy Gongadze on 16 April 2000 (the day of the Ukrainian constitutional referendum). Published mainly in Ukraini ...

(21 July 2019)

History

Ukrainian Radical-Democratic Party

The party was established at the founding congress in

Mykolaiv Mykolaiv ( uk, Миколаїв, ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Southern Ukraine, the Administrative centre, administrative center of the Mykolaiv Oblast. Mykolaiv city, which provides U ...

on 18 August 2010 and was then named the Ukrainian Radical-Democratic Party. Under this name, it was registered with the

Ministry of Justice of Ukraine The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine ( uk, Міністерство юстиції України) is the main body in the system of central government of Ukraine that regulates state legal policy. It is often abbreviated as "Мinjust" f Ukraine It ...

on 28 September 2010. At the time, the party was led by Vladyslav Telipko.

Radical Party of Oleh Liashko

During its third party congress on 8 August 2011,

Oleh Liashko Oleh Valeriiovych Liashko ( uk, Олег Валерійович Ляшко; born. 3 December 1972) is a Ukrainian politician, journalist and soldier who was a long time member of the Verkhovna Rada and leader of the Radical Party. Liashko was ...

was elected the new party leader. The same day, the party changed its name to the Radical Party of Oleh Liashko. At the

2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election The Ukrainian parliamentary election of 2012 took place on 28 October 2012.constituency 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 (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

(it had competed in 28 constituencies) for its leader Liashko,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 ...

Retrieved 29 November 2017. who did not join a faction in the

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 ...

. The party was most successful in

Chernihiv Oblast Chernihiv Oblast ( uk, Черні́гівська о́бласть, translit=Chernihivska oblast; also referred to as Chernihivshchyna, uk, Черні́гівщина, translit=Chernihivshchyna) is an oblast (province) of northern Ukraine. T ...

, where it received 10.69 percent of the vote, finishing fifth. The constituency that Liashko won was also located in Chernihiv Oblast. According to political scientist Tadeusz A. Olszański, in mid-September 2014 the party was "a typical one-man party, centred around Oleh Liashko; its real organisational potential remains a mystery". At the

2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election Snap elections to the Verkhovna Rada took place on 26 October 2014. Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine, had pressed for early parliamentary elections since his victory in the presidential election in May.Aidar Battalion 24th Separate Assault Battalion "Aidar", also known as the Aidar Battalion, is an assault battalion of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. The unit took part in the war in Eastern Ukraine and had roughly 300-400 members in 2014. It was named after the ...

, in third place, singer

Zlata Ognevich Inna Leonidivna Bordiuh ( uk, Інна Леонідівна Бордюг, Inna Leonidivna Bordiuh, ; born 12 January 1986), known professionally as Zlata Ognevich ( uk, Злата Огнєвіч, Zlata Ohnievich, links=no, ), is a Ukrainian sing ...

in fourth place and

Yurii Shukhevych Yurii-Bohdan Romanovych Shukhevych ( uk, Ю́рій-Богда́н Рома́нович Шухе́вич, 28 March 1933 – 22 November 2022) was a Ukrainian far-right politician. A member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group, he was a political pris ...

, son of the military leader of the

Ukrainian Insurgent Army The Ukrainian Insurgent Army ( uk, Українська повстанська армія, УПА, translit=Ukrayins'ka povstans'ka armiia, abbreviated UPA) was a Ukrainian nationalist paramilitary and later partisan formation. During World ...

Roman Shukhevych Roman-Taras Yosypovych Shukhevych ( uk, Рома́н-Тарас Йо́сипович Шухе́вич, also known by his pseudonym, Tur and Taras Chuprynka; 30 June 1907 – 5 March 1950), was a Ukrainian nationalist, one of the commanders of Na ...

, in fifth place. At the election, the party won 22 seats. It received support from rural and regional voters who had previously supported

Fatherland A homeland is a place where a cultural, national, or racial identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethn ...

. On 21 November 2014, the party became a member of the coalition supporting the

second Yatsenyuk government The second Yatsenyuk government was created in Ukraine after the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election. On 2 December 2014, 288 People's Deputy of Ukraine, members (of the 423

On 3 June 2015, the parliament stripped the party's MP Serhii Melnychuk of his parliamentary prosecutorial immunity rights as he was accused of forming a criminal gang, abductings and threatening people. The Radical Party left the second Yatsenyuk government coalition on 1 September 2015 in protest over a vote in parliament involving a change to the

Ukrainian Constitution The Constitution of Ukraine ( uk, Конституція України, translit=Konstytutsiia Ukrainy) is the fundamental law of Ukraine. The constitution was adopted and ratified at the 5th session of the ''Verkhovna Rada'', the parliament ...

that would lead to

decentralization Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group. Conce ...

and greater powers for areas held by pro-Russian separatists. According to party leader Liashko, the party "can't stay in the coalition after

anti-Ukrainian Anti-Ukrainian sentiment, Ukrainophobia or anti-Ukrainianism is animosity towards Ukrainians, Ukrainian culture, the Ukrainian language, Ukraine as a nation, or all of the above.Andriy Okara. Ukrainophobia is a gnostic problem.n18texts Okara. Ret ...

changes to the constitution, initiated by the

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 ...

, were approved against the will of three parties of the coalition". He was referring to his own party, Self Reliance and Fatherland. In the

the party lost all its parliamentary seats, it gained about 1% too little to clear the 5% election threshold and also did not win an electoral district seat. The party had participated in 65 single-mandate majority electoral districts. In the 2020 Ukrainian local elections 535 people won seats in local councils on behalf of the party, that is about 1.62% of the available seats.The CEC showed the top 10 parties that won the most seats in the election

(18 November 2020)

Ideology and stances

Observers had defined the party as

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...

, and

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

. The Radical Party is centered on Liashko, who is known for his

populism Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...

and highly combative behavior. The party advocates a number of traditional left-leaning positions on economics such as lower

salary A salary is a form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee, which may be specified in an employment contract. It is contrasted with piece wages, where each job, hour or other unit is paid separately, rather than on a periodic basis. ...

taxes, a ban on agricultural land sale and eliminating the illegal land market, a tenfold increase in budget spending on health and setting up primary health centres in every village and mixes them with strong nationalist sentiments. Anton Shekhovtsov of

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

considers Liashko's party to be similar to

populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...

and

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

. A similar view is shared by political scientist Mattia Zulianello. The party has promised to purify the country of

oligarchs Oligarch may refer to: Authority * Oligarch, a member of an oligarchy, a power structure where control resides in a small number of people * Oligarch (Kingdom of Hungary), late 13th–14th centuries * Business oligarch, wealthy and influential bu ...

"with a

pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

". It has proposed higher taxes on products manufactured by oligarchs and a crisis tax on the latter. The party wants to re-arm Ukraine with

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...

s. The party also advocates an end to the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatist forces in Donbas, Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since Feb ...

by the use of force. Party leader Liashko had stressed in May 2011 he had nothing against sexual minorities. In a September 2015 interview with ''

'', he stated that being a

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

person "is the choice of each individual. I can not condemn"."З усіх вил: звідки взявся та до чого дійшов Олег Ляшко"
. "Of all the twisted, and where did what came Oleh Liashko". ''

''. 18 September 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2019.

Party leaders

* Vladyslav Telipko (2010–2011) *

(2011–present)

Election results

Ukr elections 2012 multimandate oblasts ol

Verkhovna Rada

Presidential elections

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 2010 establishments in Ukraine Agrarian parties in Ukraine Nationalist parties in Ukraine Political parties established in 2010 Parliamentary factions in Ukraine