Communist Party of Ukraine (renewed)

The Communist Party of Ukraine (renewed) (Ukrainian: Комуністична партія України (оновлена), romanized: Komunistychna Partiia Ukrainy (onovlena), KPU(o)) was a political party in Ukraine, formed in November 2000^[1] following a split from the Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU). KPU(o) was led by Mykhaylo Savenko, previously a member of Parliament of the pro-president Kuchma^[2] Labour Ukraine.^[3] On 30 September 2015, the District Administrative Court in Kyiv banned the party.^[4]

Communist Party of Ukraine (renewed)
Founded	November 2000
Banned	30 September 2015
Split from	Communist Party of Ukraine
Ideology	Communism Marxism-Leninism
Political position	Far-left
Politics of Ukraine Political parties Elections

KPU(o) election poster

History

The party was formed in November 2000^[1] as a split from the Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU). The first party leader was Mykhaylo Savenko. Savenko had been a Member of Parliament supporting President Leonid Kuchma^[5] in Labour Ukraine.^[6]

The KPU claimed that the formation of the KPU(o) was instigated by the political establishment to take votes from the KPU.^[7] In the 2002 Ukrainian parliamentary election, the party won 1.4% of the popular vote and no seats although only six other parties had spent more on their election campaign.^[8] In the 2007 Ukrainian parliamentary election, the party garnered only 0.29% of the popular vote.^[1] The party did not participate to the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election^[9][10] and the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election.^[10][11]

In May 2015, decommunization in Ukraine came into effect in Ukraine, banning communist symbols, singing the Soviet national anthem or "The Internationale".^[12] Because of these laws, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry stripped the party of its right to participate in elections on 24 July 2015.^[13] The party did not challenge this ban and was thus on 30 September 2015 terminated by the District Administrative Court in Kyiv.^[4]

References

1. (in Ukrainian) Комуністична партія України (оновлена), sd.net
2. The European Union and Democratization: Reluctant States (Europe and the Nation State) by Paul Kubicek, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-31136-6, page 171
3. Ukraine Political Parties, GlobalSecurity.org
4. (in Ukrainian) The court banned the two Communist parties, Ukrayinska Pravda (1 October 2015)
   Kyiv’s Court terminates two Communist parties, Ukrinform (1 October 2015)
5. The European Union and Democratization: Reluctant States (Europe and the Nation State) by Paul Kubicek, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-31136-6, page 171
6. Ukraine Political Parties, GlobalSecurity.org
7. Archived April 15, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
8. Virtual Politics - Faking Democracy in the Post-Soviet World, Andrew Wilson, Yale University Press, 2005, ISBN 0-300-09545-7 page 256
9. (in Ukrainian) Results of voting in single constituencies in 2012 Archived November 27, 2012, at the Wayback Machine & Nation-wide list Archived 2012-12-22 at archive.today, Central Election Commission of Ukraine
10. Ukraine Bars Communists From Elections, Radio Free Europe (24 July 2015)
11. Alphabetical Index of parties in 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election Archived 2014-12-18 at the Wayback Machine, Central Election Commission of Ukraine
12. "Ukraine bans Soviet symbols and criminalises sympathy for communism". The Guardian. May 21, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
13. Ukraine's Justice Ministry outlaws Communists from elections, Kyiv Post, (24 July 2015)
    Justice Ministry bans three communist parties from taking part in election process as they violate Ukrainian law - minister, Interfax-Ukraine, (24 July 2015)