The Democratic Bloc (; ''Demokratychnyi Blok'') was a political

alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...

and an electoral bloc in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

founded during the election campaign to participate in the parliamentary election held in March 1990.

History

The elections in the spring of 1990 were the first where the Soviet-authorities allowed the formation of full-fledged political parties that varied in their political agendas. Serhy Yekelchyk ''Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

(2007), , page 187 The first democratic bloc that consisted of smaller parties was formed during the election. The "Democratic Bloc" included the People's Movement of Ukraine (''Rukh''), Helsinki Watch Committee of Ukraine, Green World Association, and other organizations. It managed to obtain 111 seats out of 442 in

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

(Ukraine's parliament). The democratic deputies formed the "Narodna Rada" group, which consisted of around 90 to 125 members and was the opposition to the conservative-communist "group of 239" in the parliament ("for the sovereign Soviet Ukraine"). Ihor Yukhnovskyi became the leader of the group. The considered lack of parliamentary seats for the "Democratic Bloc" became one of the causes of the October 1990 " Revolution on Granite". In the 1990 Ukrainian local elections "Democratic Bloc" won the elections in Lviv Oblast, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast and

Ternopil Oblast Ternopil Oblast (), also referred to as Ternopilshchyna () or Ternopillia (), is an Oblasts of Ukraine, oblast (province) of Ukraine. Its Capital (political), administrative center is Ternopil, through which flows the Seret (river), Seret, a tribu ...

. During the next parliamentary election of 1994 the above-mentioned parties didn't cooperate as "Democratic Bloc" but rather went their separate ways. Eventually, by the end of the 2000s, the People's Movement of Ukraine became part of the Our Ukraine block. Helsinki Watch Committee of Ukraine ceased to exist. Its 1990s offspring, Ukrainian Republican Party merged with Ukrainian People's Party and became part of Our Ukraine. The Green World Association transformed itself into the Party of Greens of Ukraine, but that party hasn't won any seats in the

Ukrainian Parliament The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovna Rada building in Ukraine's capi ...

since the 1998 parliamentary election. After the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election only People's Movement of Ukraine was represented in Verkhovna Rada.Results of the vote count
, '' Kyiv Post'' (9 November 2012)They Call Themselves the Opposition
, ''

The Ukrainian Week ''The Ukrainian Week'' (, ) is an illustrated weekly magazine and news outlet covering politics, economics and the arts and aimed at the socially engaged Ukrainian-language reader. It provides a range of analysis, opinion, interviews, feature p ...

'' (31 August 2012)After the parliamentary elections in Ukraine: a tough victory for the Party of Regions
, Centre for Eastern Studies (7 November 2012) In the

2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an un ...

this party participated in 3 constituencies; but its candidates lost in all of them and thus the party won no parliamentary seats.Rukh candidates for constituency seats in the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election
RBK Ukraine

Notes

References

{{Independence of Ukraine 1989–1991 Ukrainian revolution Defunct political party alliances in Ukraine Parliamentary factions in Ukraine Political opposition alliances Political parties in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Pro-independence parties in the Soviet Union Revolution on Granite