Voice (Ukrainian political party)

Voice (Ukrainian: Голос; Holos) is a liberal and pro-European political party in Ukraine, which was led by Ukrainian musician Svyatoslav Vakarchuk until March 2020.[9] With its 20 MPs[10] the party is part of the opposition in the current Ukrainian parliament.[11][12]

Voice

Голос
LeaderKira Rudyk
faction leaderSerhiy Rakhmanin
Founded16 May 2019 (2019-05-16)
Preceded byPlatform of Initiatives[1]
HeadquartersKyiv
Membership (2020)"several hundred"[nb 1]
IdeologyLiberalism[3]
E-democracy[4]
Anti-corruption[5]
Pro-Europeanism[6]
Political positionCentre[7] to centre-right[8]
Colours     Orange
     Dark blue
SloganParty of Real Changes
Verkhovna Rada
20 / 450
Regions
0 / 158,399
Website
goloszmin.org

History

The party was presented to the public on 16 May 2019 in Kyiv and announced it would run in the upcoming July 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election.[13] Legally, Holos is an "upgraded" version of the party "Platform of Initiatives" that was founded in 2015 to take part in the 2015 Ukrainian local elections.[14] The creation of the party marks Vakarchuk’s second venture into politics – he previously served as an MP for almost a year after being elected in the 2007 Ukrainian parliamentary election.[15]

The party was first featured in the opinion polling carried out from 16–21 May 2019, its rating was 4.6%.[16]

The party held its first congress on 8 June 2019, at which part of its party list for the then forthcoming elections was announced.[17][18] The top 10 candidates were as follows: 1) Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, 2) Yulia Klimenko, 3) Kira Rudyk, 4) Yaroslav Zheleznyak, 5) Oleksandra Ustinova, 6) Oleh Makarov, 7) Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, 8) Serhiy Rakhmanin, 9) Solomiya Bobrovska, and 10) Olha Stefanyshyna. A few days later, on 12 June, the party withdrew two of its constituency candidates because they had "affiliated with or co-operated with pro-Russian forces", namely Ukrainian Choice and the Opposition Bloc.[19] Party leader Vakarchuk had assured on 19 May 2019 that no incumbent MPs would be on the party's list for the 2019 parliamentary election. However, such deputies, whose political views coincided with the party's ideology, were allowed to be elected by majority constituencies.[20] In the election, four incumbent MPs stood as candidates for the party in majority constituencies: Victoria Voytsitska, Pavlo Rizanenko, Victoria Ptashnyk, and Leonid Yemets.[21] None of them were elected.[10]

In the 2019 parliamentary election, the party finished with 5.82% of the vote, 17 MPs elected nationwide and three MPs elected in a constituency.[10][22] 47.6% of the party's elected deputies are woman.[23] The party's faction leader is Serhiy Rakhmanin.[11]

On 11 March 2020, Vakarchuk stepped aside as head of the party. Voice selected Kira Rudyk as its new leader.[24]

Political positions

The party declares a democratic approach, supporting the separation of money from politics.[25][26] In economic matters, the party is in favor of introducing a tax on withdrawn capital, a land market, privatization of state-owned enterprises, and the fight against illegal customs and tax schemes.[27]

Party leader Vakarchuk stated on 10 June 2019 that the party wants to abolish the current Ukrainian election constituencies (in which 225 seats are elected in constituencies with a first-past-the-post electoral system in one round),[28][29] instead favoring a shift to full open list proportional representation.

According to the analysis of human rights activist Volodymyr Yavorsky, the party program pays great attention to human rights, while there are no populist statements in it.[30]

According to experts from the Centre for Economic Strategy Dmytro Yablonovsky and Daria Mikhailishin, the program focuses on combating corruption through de-oligarchization and by increasing the efficiency of the state through the introduction of modern technologies.[31]

In November 2019, the party's parliamentary faction stated that because Ukraine could not regain control of separatist Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic and Russian annexed Crimea it should "freeze the conflicts", abandon the Minsk Agreements and focus on strengthening its own positions.[32][11]

Prominent party members
  • Solomiya Bobrovska, public activist, volunteer, acting Governor of Odesa Oblast (2016-2017)
  • Yulia Klimenko, ex-Deputy Minister of Economy
  • Pavlo Kuhta, program director of the party[33]
  • Serhiy Prytula, TV presenter, actor and author[34]
  • Serhiy Rakhmanin, journalist and TV presenter[11]
  • Andriy Sharaskin, ATO military officer, callous Bohemia, actor and director, company commander, who defended Donetsk International Airport, ex-speaker of Right Sector.
  • Yuri Sokolov, cardiologist and doctor of medical sciences
  • Olha Stefanyshyna, ex-Deputy Minister of Health[35]
  • Oleksandra Ustinova, member of the board of the Center for Combating Corruption[36]
  • Lesia Vasylenko, human rights activist and founder of the Legal Hundred[37]
  • Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, public activist and ex-chairman of the board Transparency International
  • Yaroslav Zheleznyak, Government Relations Advisor[38]

Electoral performance
Results of the 2019 elections

Verkhovna Rada
Year Popular vote % of popular vote Position Overall seats won +/- Government
2019 849,085 5.82 5th
20 / 450
 20 Opposition

Notes
  1. According to Voice MP Roman Lozynskyi in May 2020.[2]

References
  1. (in Ukrainian) The Ministry of Justice registered the party of Vakarchuk, Lb.ua (May 21, 2019)
  2. (in Ukrainian) Non-partisan Ukraine, The Ukrainian Week (24 June 2020)
  3. (in Ukrainian) The diary of the parliamentary elections-2019 (May 16 - June 18, 2019), Ukrayinska Pravda (18 June 2019)
  4. (in Ukrainian) Party Program (May 30 - June 10, 2019) (accessed 11 June 2019)
  5. (in Ukrainian) (May 30 - June 10, 2019), Golos Party (2 July 2019)
  6. (in Ukrainian) (May 30 - June 10, 2019), Golos Party (11 June 2019)
  7. (in Ukrainian) (May 30 - June 10, 2019), Golos Party (11 June 2019)
  8. (in Ukrainian) (May 16, 2019), liga.net (13 July 2019)
  9. Vakarchuk elected Holos Party head to replace Yulia Klymenko, Interfax-Ukraine (24 July 2019)
  10. CEC counts 100 percent of vote in Ukraine's parliamentary elections, Ukrinform (26 July 2019)
    (in Russian) Results of the extraordinary elections of the People's Deputies of Ukraine 2019, Ukrayinska Pravda (21 July 2019)
  11. (in Ukrainian) Serhiy Rakhmanin: Zelensky sees the Verkhovna Rada as an addition to the President's Office, Ukrayinska Pravda (13 November 2019)
  13. Вакарчук заявив про створення партії і похід у Раду. pravda.com.ua (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  14. (in Ukrainian) The Ministry of Justice registered the party of Vakarchuk, Lb.ua (May 21, 2019)
  15. For His Next Act, a Ukrainian Rock Star Looks to Politics, The New York Times (14 September 2018)
  16. "Моніторинг електоральних настроїв українців (16-21 травня 2019)". ratinggroup.ua. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  17. Goloszmin. "Партія "Голос" відкрила імена кандидатів, з якими йде на вибори". goloszmin.org (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2019-06-16.
  18. Голос Змін (2019-06-08), НАЖИВО: з'їзд партії "Голос", retrieved 2019-06-16
  19. “Голос” відкликав двох кандидатів у депутати. Українська правда (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  20. Вакарчук: У списку нової партії не буде діючих депутатів [Vakarchuk: There will be no acting deputies in the list of new party] (in Ukrainian). Ukrayinska Pravda. 19 May 2019. Archived from the original on 19 May 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  21. «Голос» країни. Кого Вакарчук взяв у свою команду (досьє). glavcom.ua (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  22. "Центральна виборча комісія - Вибори народних депутатів України 2019". www.cvk.gov.ua. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
  23. (in Ukrainian) The new Council has increased the number of women deputies, Ukrayinska Pravda (23 July 2019)
  25. "Святослав Вакарчук презентував нову партію "Голос": основні цілі та політична програма" [Svyatoslav Vakarchuk presented the new party "Voice": main goals and political program] (in Ukrainian). The direct channel. 16 May 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  26. "Голос змін: Політична програма партії "Голос"" [Voice of Changes: The political program of the party "Voice"] (PDF) (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 13 June 2020. Держава для людини, а не громадянин для чиновника (p.11)
  27. Lesya Vyhovsky (15 June 2019). "Як топ-5 найрейтинговіших партій обіцяють змінити ситуацію в Україні" [How top 5 most rated parties promise to change the situation in Ukraine] (in Ukrainian). TV channel 24. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  28. Electoral dead-end for Rada, UNIAN (29 September 2016)
    "Parliament passes law on parliamentary elections". Kyiv Post. Interfax-Ukraine. 17 November 2011. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
    "Ukraine: The Law on Election of the People's Deputies (Unofficial translation by IFES), 2011" (PDF). 17 November 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
    The Distorted Will of the People, The Ukrainian Week (5 November 2012)
  29. Вакарчук: “Голос” зробить усе, щоб мажоритарка зникла назавжди. Українська правда (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  30. Volodymyr Yavorsky (10 July 2019). "Аналіз виборчих програм через призму прав людини: партія «Голос»" [Analysis of electoral programs through the prism of human rights: the Party "Voice"] (in Ukrainian). Humanrights. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  31. Dmytro Yablonovsky (18 July 2019). "Що пропонує Голос. Економічні орієнтири партії Вакарчука" [What does the Voice offer? Economic Landmarks of the Vakarchuk Party] (in Ukrainian). NV business. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  32. (in Ukrainian) "Voice": Ukraine should withdraw from the Minsk agreements and freeze the situation in the Donbass, Ukrayinska Pravda (8 November 2019)
  33. https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2019/05/27/7216310/
  34. https://m.glavcom.ua/news/shoumen-pritula-ide-v-politiku-po-spiskah-partiji-vakarchuka-600342.html
  35. "Cabinet Dismisses Deputy Health Minister Stefanyshyna, Who Decides To Run For Rada From Holos". ukranews_com. 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2019-06-16.
  36. "До партії Вакарчука приєднались правозахисниця та громадська активістка". 1NEWS.COM.UA (in Ukrainian). 2019-06-07. Retrieved 2019-06-16.
  37. "До партії Вакарчука приєднались правозахисниця та громадська активістка". 1NEWS.COM.UA (in Ukrainian). 2019-06-07. Retrieved 2019-06-16.
  38. https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2019/05/27/7216310/
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