Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine

History

The party was created by Nataliya Vitrenko a then dissident member of the Socialist Party of Ukraine (SPU) in April 1996. She led a group of more radical SPU members who opposed what they regarded as revisionist tendencies in the Socialist Party. In October 1995 they had left that party. The Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine is a party that supports the Eurasian Economic Union as an alternative to the EU and uses left-wing rhetoric. PSPU traditionally campaigns on an anti-NATO, anti-IMF and pro-Russian platform. During the 1998 parliamentary elections the party won 4,04% of the vote, and its candidate for the 1999 presidential elections, Nataliya Vitrenko, came 4th, with 10.97% of the vote in the first round. The party's parliamentary faction was dissolved in February 2000.

At the legislative elections on 30 March 2002, the party established the Nataliya Vitrenko Bloc alliance, including the Party of Educators of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Партія Освітян України). It won 3.22% of the votes, little short of passing the 4% threshold needed to enter the Verkhovna Rada. PSPU was a vocal opponent of President Leonid Kuchma but supported Viktor Yanukovych, Ukrainian prime minister since 2002, during the 2004 elections. After the Orange Revolution of 2004, the party joined the opposition to new president Viktor Yushchenko in a coalition with the "Derzhava" (State) party led by former Ukrainian prosecutor Gennady Vasilyev. In the March 2006 parliamentary elections, the party again failed to gain any seats in Parliament, participating as People's Opposition Bloc of Natalia Vitrenko winning 2,93%. At the 2007 parliamentary elections the party failed once more to enter the parliament, its result dropped to 1,32%.

In the run-up to the 2010 presidential election the Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine refused to join the Bloc of Left and Center-left Forces since it did not want to be in the same election bloc as the Socialist Party of Ukraine. Instead the party tried to nominate Natalia Vitrenko again as their candidate in that election but the Central Election Commission of Ukraine refused to register her for failure to pay the required 2.5 million hryvnya nomination deposit. Eventually the Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine supported Party of Regions leader Viktor Yanukovych in the runoff of the 2010 presidential election.

During the 2010 Ukrainian local elections, the party only managed to win three representatives in the Sevastopol municipality.

The party did not participate in the 2012 parliamentary elections.

In 2011, the PSP decided to join the People's Front for Russia.

The party did not participate in the 2014 parliamentary elections.

The party will take part in the October 2015 Ukrainian local elections as part of the umbrella party Left Opposition.

Ideology

The party favoures Ukraine's full-scale entry in the Eurasian Economic Community (including its Customs Union); the protection of the non-aligned status of Ukraine; abolition of NATO exercises in Ukraine; giving the Russian language status as official language along with Ukrainian; annulment of former President Viktor Yushchenko's decrees on awarding the title of Hero of Ukraine.