Sakha Omuk () was a political party active in the

Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic The Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (; ), also known as Soviet Sakha, Soviet Yakutia or the Yakut ASSR (, ''Yakutskaya ASSR''), was an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR within the Soviet Union. History The Yakut ASSR was formed ...

and the

Sakha Republic Sakha, officially the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia, and the largest federal subject of Russia by area. It is located in the Russian Far East, along the Arctic Ocean, with a population of one million ...

during the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

and early post-Soviet Russia. Ideologically supportive of Yakut autonomy and nationalism, it brought about the Yakut ASSR's declaration of sovereignty during the

parade of sovereignties The parade of sovereignties () was a series of declarations of sovereignty of various degrees by the republics of the Soviet Union and autonomous units within the republics ( autonomous republics, autonomous oblasts and autonomous okrugs) from ...

History

The founding congress of Sakha Omuk took place during June 1990. The president of Sakha Omuk was , a popular theatre director and a member of the

Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union The Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union () was the highest body of state authority of the Soviet Union from 1989 to 1991. Background The Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union was created as part of Mikhail Gorbachev ...

. Sakha Omuk was named after a Yakut , which had existed from 1920 to 1928. Sakha Omuk's founding came during a period of growing national consciousness among Yakuts. The ''de jure'' autonomy of the

had been eroded by successive Soviet governments to the point where the region was ''de facto'' part of Russia. Further, the arrival of thousands of Slavic labour migrants to work in Yakutia's mining industry had caused a massive demographic shift, with Yakuts dropping from 90% of the population in 1920 to 33.4% by 1989. 99% of the income from these industries was taken by the central Soviet government, leaving the regional population, particularly ethnic Yakut, in destitute living conditions. As a result of these factors, popular anger at the Soviet system reached a boiling point among Yakuts in the later half of the 1980s, with riots in the regional capital of

Yakutsk Yakutsk ( ) is the capital and largest city of Sakha, Russia, located about south of the Arctic Circle. Fueled by the mining industry, Yakutsk has become one of Russia's most rapidly growing regional cities, with a population of 355,443 at the ...

in 1986. Sakha Omuk, working alongside fellow nationally minded groups Sakha Keskile and Kut-Sür, brought together intellectual voices in an effort to promote Yakut autonomy. The party found early victories in electing reform-minded deputies to various legislatures, electing

Mikhail Nikolayev Mikhail Yefimovich Nikolayev (; 13 November 1937 – 4 August 2023) was a Russian Yakut politician who was the first President of the Sakha Republic, serving from 1991 to January 2002. He was succeeded by Vyacheslav Shtyrov. Early life and ...

(''de jure'' a member of the party, though he later had strained relations with them), and passing the Yakut declaration of sovereignty amidst the

. Following the

, Sakha Omuk advocated for greater interconnectedness between the Yakut and the Turkic peoples within the

Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional organization, regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an ar ...

. On the other hand, the party, particularly members of the radical wing led by the party's vice-president Vladimir Nikolayev resisted Slavic labour migration, seeking to deny citizenship to temporary workers and promote the voluntary emigration of non-Yakut. In April 1992, the party protested against President Nikolayev, calling on him to pass the constitution, which proclaimed Yakutia as sovereign and having the right to self-determination. Even after President Nikolayev began to distance himself from Sakha Omuk, the party continued to retain significant stature within the government, and despite its self-proclaimed status as "constructive opposition", its members held multiple ministries. It was also closely connected to the

Democratic Party of Russia The Democratic Party of Russia (DPR) is a conservative Russian political party that was founded in 1990. Under the leadership of Andrei Vladimirovich Bogdanov, Andrey Bogdanov, the party advocated the entry of Russia into the European Union. ...

. Sakha Omuk managed only a minor showing in the 1993 election to the

State Assembly of the Sakha Republic The State Assembly (Il Tumen) of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is the regional parliament of Sakha, a federal subject of Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of ...

, owing to waning popularity and many Yakuts' distrust for political parties after the Soviet period. The party ultimately dissolved in 1994, and its members continued to focus on strengthening Yakut influence in the region, particularly in the Assembly.

Electoral results

References

{{Defunct Russian political parties 1990 establishments in Russia 1990 establishments in the Soviet Union 1994 disestablishments in Russia Nationalist parties in Russia Political parties disestablished in 1994 Political parties established in 1990 Political parties in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Political parties of minorities in Russia Politics of the Sakha Republic Pro-independence parties in the Soviet Union