Strong Ukraine ( uk, Сильна Україна ''Syl'na Ukrajina''); formerly the Labour Party Ukraine
Database DATA ( uk, Трудова партія України), is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

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 invas ...

that was re-established in April 2014.Elections: Tihipko revived "Strong Ukraine"
, TVi (23 April 2014)
Tihipko going to revive "Strong Ukraine"
Den (23 April 2014) It was originally registered in August 1999 and dissolved in March 2012 after it had merged with the

Party of Regions The Party of Regions ( uk, Партія регіонів, Partiia rehioniv, ; russian: Партия регионов, Partiya regionov) was a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine formed in late 1997 that then grew to be the biggest party of U ...

on 17 March 2012. Since late 2009 the party was and is the main vehicle of billionaire

Serhiy Tihipko Serhiy Leonidovych Tihipko ( uk, Сергій Леонідович Тiгiпко; born 13 February 1960) is a Ukrainian politician and finance specialist who was Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine. Tihipko was Minister of Economics in 2000 and subse ...

.#23 Richest: Sergiy Tigipko, 50
''

Kyiv Post The ''Kyiv Post'' is the oldest English-language newspaper in Ukraine, founded in October 1995 by Jed Sunden. History American Jed Sunden founded the ''Kyiv Post'' weekly newspaper on Oct. 18, 1995 and later created KP Media for his holdings. ...

'' (December 17, 2010) After the parties merger Tihipko became a member of the Party of Regions.Man With A Mission
''

'' (October 7, 2011) On 7 April 2014 the political council of this party expelled Tihipko from the Party of Regions. The party claimed to have over 80,000 members in mid-May 2010. In the

Ukrainian Television and Radio UTR ( uk, Українське телебачення і радіомовлення; Ukrayins'ke telebachennya i radiomovlennya) is the Ukrainian state owned TV channel targeting a foreign Ukrainian-speaking audience. Programming is provided with ...

(8 November 2014)
People's Front 0.33% ahead of Poroshenko Bloc with all ballots counted in Ukraine elections - CEC

Interfax-Ukraine The Interfax-Ukraine ( uk, Інтерфакс-Україна) is a Kyiv-based Ukraine, Ukrainian independent news agency founded in 1992. The company does not belong to the Russian news corporation Interfax Information Services. The company pub ...

(8 November 2014)
Poroshenko Bloc to get 132 seats in parliament - CEC

(8 November 2014)

History

Labour Party Ukraine

Founded on 19 June 1999 as Labour Party Ukraine it did not participate in the

legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

elections of 30 March 2002. In the

2006 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2006. * Elections in 2006 * Electoral calendar 2006 * 2006 Acehnese regional election * 2006 American Samoan legislative election * 2006 Bahraini parliamentary election * 2006 Costa Rican presidenti ...

, the party failed as part of "

Bloc Borys Olijnyk and Myhailo Syrota The Bloc Borys Olijnyk and Myhailo Syrota ( uk, Блок Бориса Олійника та Михайла Сироти) was an electoral alliance in Ukraine created in December 2005. At the 2006 parliamentary elections the alliance won 0.8% of ...

" to win parliamentary representation (the Bloc won 0,08% of the votes). In the 2007 parliamentary elections the party was part of the

Lytvyn Bloc The Lytvyn Bloc, formerly Lytvyn's People's Bloc, ( uk, Блок Литвина, formerly Народний блок Литвина) was a centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of s ...

alliance, that won 20 out of 450 seats.

Strong Ukraine

Re-branding and merger with Party of Regions

On 28 November 2009, at the 10th Congress, Labour Party Ukraine was renamed Strong Ukraine.Історія Партiї
Party Official Website Strong Ukraine endorsed its new leader

(former partyleader of

Labour Ukraine Labour Ukraine ( uk, Трудова Україна ''Trudova Ukrajina'')
Database DATA is a

Trudova Ukraina elects a new chairman

Policy Documentation Center The Center for Policy Studies (CPS) is an academic unit within Central European University, dedicated to improving the quality of governance in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union by the provision of independent public policy ...

(27 November 2000)), also elected in November 2009,Партії "Сильна Україна" та "Інформаційна Україна" створили блок Сергія Тігіпка "Сильна Україна"

Interfax Ukraine The Interfax-Ukraine ( uk, Інтерфакс-Україна) is a Kyiv-based Ukrainian independent news agency founded in 1992. The company does not belong to the Russian news corporation Interfax Information Services. The company publishes i ...

(February 22, 2009) in the

2010 Ukrainian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Ukraine on 17 January 2010. As no candidate received a majority of the vote, a run-off election was held between Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych on 7 February. On 14 ...

.Sylna Ukrayina party to support Tihipko in presidential elections
''

'' (November 28, 2009) Fellow billionaire Oleksandr Kardakov was another influential member of the party. On 22 February 2010, during a party congress, the party announced it would compete in the

2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election The Ukrainian parliamentary election of 2012 took place on 28 October 2012.electoral alliance An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections. E ...

with the party

Information Ukraine The Information Ukraine ( uk, Інформаційна Україна) is a political party in Ukraine registered in March 2005. On 11 March 2010 party leader Tihipko was elected as one of six deputy Prime Ministers (in charge of economic issues) in the Azarov Government. A March 2010 poll predicted that the party would get 7.3% of the vote at the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election. A May 2010 poll by the ''Kyiv International Institute of Sociology'' showed that the party had the greatest support among voters in central Ukraine (11%), and less supported in the west and south (7%); the lowest number of this party's supporters was in east Ukraine (5%). At the 2010 local elections the party gained about 6% of the votes nationwide. In the 2010 local elections the party won representative in 20 of the 24 regional parliaments and in the

Supreme Council of Crimea Verkhovna Rada of Crimea or the Supreme Council of Crimea, officially the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea ( uk, Верховна Рада Автономної Республіки Крим, Verkhovna Rada Avtonomnoï Respubl ...

. In May 2011 the rating of the party had dropped to about 5% in election polls. In August 2011 Tihipko and

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

(and a

(POR) leader)

Mykola Azarov Mykola Yanovych Azarov ( uk, Мико́ла Я́нович Аза́ров, ; né Pakhlo; Cyrillic: Пахло; born 17 December 1947) is a Ukrainian politician who was the Prime Minister of Ukraine from 11 March 2010 to 27 January 2014. He was t ...

announced that Strong Ukraine and POR are going to team up and eventually Strong Ukraine will be merged into POR. Tihipko will become a POR member along with other Strong Ukraine representatives.Strong Ukraine postpones decision on merger with Regions Party
''

'' (22 October 2011)Strong Ukraine to prepare its proposals to Regions Party on posts distribution, says Tigipko
''

'' (22 October 2011) Mid-December 2011 Tihipko predicted the unification process would be completed late January 2012; but he also warned that if "problematic issues" would not be solved Strong Ukraine would not merge.Тігіпко назвав причини, які перешкодять йому стати "регіоналом"

Ukrayinska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' ( uk, Українська правда, lit=Ukrainian Truth) is a Ukrainian online newspaper founded by Georgiy Gongadze on 16 April 2000 (the day of the Ukrainian constitutional referendum). Published mainly in Ukra ...

(16 December 2011) The parties merged on 17 March 2012.Tigipko hooks up with Party of Regions

(20 March 2012)
Strong Ukraine party decides on disbanding to join Regions Party

(17 March 2012) According to

Sociological group "RATING" Rating ( uk, Рейтинг), or fully the Sociological group "Rating" ( uk, Соціологічнна група «Рейтинг»), is a Ukrainian independent, non-governmental research organization, that specializes in conducting all types ...

the party would have collected 3.1% of the votes if Ukrainian parliamentary election would have occurred in February 2012. In August 2012 experts believed potential voters of Tihipko and his Strong Ukraine! shifted their allegiance to

Ukraine – Forward! Ukraine – Forward! ( uk, Україна – Вперед!, ''Ukrajina – Vpered!'', Russian: Украина – Вперед!) is a social democratic political party in Ukraine. From its registration in December 1998 until March 2012 it wa ...

.Korolevska recruits acting, sports stars for campaign
''

'' (Aug. 2, 2012) In the 28 October 2012 parliamentary elections Ukraine – Forward won 1.58% of the national votes and no

constituencies An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polit ...

and thus failed to win parliamentary representation.Proportional votes

,

Central Election Commission of Ukraine The Central Election Commission of Ukraine ( uk, Центральна виборча комісія України, commonly abbreviated in Ukrainian as ЦВК (''Tse-Ve-Ka''); sometimes referred to as the Central Electoral Commission of Ukrai ...

Re-establishment

In March 2014 Tihipko became a self-nominated candidate for

President of Ukraine The president of Ukraine ( uk, Президент України, Prezydent Ukrainy) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, condu ...

in the 2014 presidential election. On 29 March a Party of Regions convention supported Mykhailo Dobkin's nomination as a presidential candidate.Ukraine's Party of Regions expels presidential hopefuls Tigipko, Tsariov and Boiko

(7 April 2014) On 7 April 2014 the political council of the party expelled Tihipko from the party. He then accused that the party had "been turned into a branch of a specific financial and industrial group, a private enterprise". On 23 April 2014 Tihipko announced that Strong Ukraine would be revived and that its merger with Party of Regions had been "a mistake". On 5 August 2014 the party held its first Congress since its re-establishment."Strong Ukraine" revived"

gazeta.ua ''Gazeta.ua'' ( uk, Газета по-українськи 'Newspaper in Ukrainian') is an illustrated newspaper based in Kyiv covering politics, economics, culture, sports, arts, and other different topics and aimed at Ukrainian-language reade ...

(8 August 2014) In the

2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election Snap elections to the Verkhovna Rada took place on 26 October 2014. Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine, had pressed for early parliamentary elections since his victory in the presidential election in May.Valeriy Khoroshkovskyi Valeriy Ivanovych Khoroshkovsky ( uk, Валерій Іванович Хорошковський, born 1 January 1969 in Kyiv) is a Ukrainian businessman, former head of the Security Service of Ukraine, former Minister of Finance, and former Firs ...

. In the election the party failed to clear the 5%

election threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of the primary vote that a candidate or political party requires to achieve before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can ...

(it got 3.11% of the votes) but did win one constituency seat and thus one parliamentary seat.

Ideology and stances

According to Tihipko the party is "

patriotic Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and sense of attachment to one's country. This attachment can be a combination of many different feelings, language relating to one's own homeland, including ethnic, cultural, political or histor ...

but not

nationalistic Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

". Tihipko has stated he wants to "unite the country". Concerning the

War in Donbass War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

, on 5 August 2014 Tihipko said that in March and April 2014 the Yatsenyuk Government wasted a chance to resolve the conflict through negotiations, and that by early August 2014 this was no longer an option. He also stated that "Terrorists" and their supporters in the east of the country had passed a "point of no return". He supports a professional

Ukrainian army The Ukrainian Ground Forces ( uk, Сухопу́тні військá Збрóйних сил Украї́ни), also known as the Ukrainian Army, are the land forces of Ukraine and one of the five branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They w ...

to prevent the conflict spreading to other parts of the country. The party seeks a peaceful resolution to the conflict by negotiating with

Russia 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-eigh ...

through European mediators but not directly with the pro-Russian combatants.Speech by Serhiy Tihipko at Congress party "Strong Ukraine"
Strong Ukraine official website (5 August 2014)
Ukraine should negotiate with Russia with Europe's mediation — Ukrainian official

ITAR-TASS The Russian News Agency TASS (russian: Информацио́нное аге́нтство Росси́и ТАСС, translit=Informatsionnoye agentstvo Rossii, or Information agency of Russia), abbreviated TASS (russian: ТАСС, label=none) ...

(5 August 2014)

Election results

Verkhovna Rada

Notes

References

External links

Official web site
{{Ukrainian Political Parties Labour parties in Ukraine Political parties established in 1999 Political parties disestablished in 2012 1999 establishments in Ukraine 2012 disestablishments in Ukraine Political parties established in 2014 2014 establishments in Ukraine Centrist parties in Ukraine Russian political parties in Ukraine