Social Democratic Party of Ukraine ( uk, Соцiал-демократична партія України) is a political party in Ukraine. The party was created after in 1990 after the end of the
one party system
A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties ...
.
The original Social Democratic Party of Ukraine split off at its Constituent Congress on May 27, 1990, that took place in the
Kyiv Polytechnic Institute
)
, image = NTUU KPI logo.png
, image_size = 220px
, caption = Seal of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute
, established = 1898
, students = 36,000 (approximately)
, admini ...
. One, the "Lefts" argued that it is possible to establish a party which pursues democratic socialism and that
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 ...
should keep its close ties with the
Russian Federation
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
. Others, the "Rights" stated that the Communist Party of the Soviet Union discredited the idea of democratic socialism and therefore the party should follow course of
social democracy
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...
distancing from any forms of
socialism
Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...
.
The left wing went on to establish the United Social Democratic Party of Ukraine, OSDPU ( uk, Об’єднана Соціал-Демократична Партія України). Close to the end of the Constituent Congress, the opposing participants left the congress and created the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine, SDPU. SDPU however was registered only on November 1, 1991. During the 1991 presidential elections SDPU supported
Vyacheslav Chornovil
Viacheslav Maksymovych Chornovil ( uk, В'ячесла́в Макси́мович Чорнові́л; 24 December 1937 – 25 March 1999) was a Ukrainian politician and Soviet dissident. As a prominent Ukrainian dissident in the Soviet Union, ...
, while OSDPU - Shcherbak (
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 ...
).
In 1992 both parties joined an association of democratic centrist forces "New Ukraine" and a committee "Referendum: sovereign Ukraine". New Ukraine association included also such parties as
Party of Democratic Revival of Ukraine
Party of Democratic Revival of Ukraine (PDVU) was a political party in 1990-96 that was created as an offshoot of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In 1996 along with number of other parties, it merged into the People's Democratic Party.
...
Liberal Democratic Party of Ukraine
The Liberal Democratic Party of Ukraine ( uk, Ліберально-демократична партія України, Liberalno-demokratychna partiya Ukrayiny) is a political party in Ukraine registered in July 1992.Ukrainian Student Association (USS), trade union association "Yednist", and others. SDPU also was an associate member of the National Movement of Ukraine (see
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 ...
) within the "Democratic Ukraine" block and held close ties with the Youth Party of Crimea (previously as Youth Marine League).
The SDPU and OSDPU reunited on December 13, 1992, and were registered as a single party on March 4, 1993. On September 19, 1993, SDPU merged with some regional organizations of another social democratic party the
Party of Democratic Revival of Ukraine
Party of Democratic Revival of Ukraine (PDVU) was a political party in 1990-96 that was created as an offshoot of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In 1996 along with number of other parties, it merged into the People's Democratic Party.
...
(PDVU). For the
1994 Ukrainian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Ukraine on 27 March 1994, with a second round between 2 and 10 April. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1976 15 political parties gained seats and the majority of deputi ...
both parties SDPU and PDVU that managed to keep some party integrity ran separately. In summer of 1994 SDPU already united supported
Leonid Kravchuk
Leonid Makarovych Kravchuk ( uk, Леонід Макарович Кравчук; 10 January 1934 – 10 May 2022) was a Ukrainian politician and the first president of Ukraine, serving from 5 December 1991 until 19 July 1994. In 1992, he signed ...
in the second round of presidential elections.
After the 1994 parliamentary elections the united party split off again and SDPU-Buzduhan became registered as SDPU becoming more associated with 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 ...
. Buzduhan and his supported left session hall of party congress that took place on May 29, 1994. SDPU- Zbitniev was refused registration by the Ministry of Justice as the SDPU and after merger of some other parties registered as SDPU(u).
Since the last split SDPU never become as popular as its sister party the
Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united)
The Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) ( uk, Соцiал-демократична партія України (об'єднана); СДПУ(о)), is a Ukrainian political party that was originally established as the Social Democratic ...
. In 2000 SDPU joined the political protest
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 ...