The All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" (), referred to as Batkivshchyna (), is a political party in Ukraine led by People's Deputy of Ukraine, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. After the November 2011 banning of the participation of blocs of political parties in parliamentary elections, Batkivshchyna became a major force in Ukrainian politics independently.
From 5 August 2011 to 22 February 2014, Yulia Tymoshenko was a political prisoner of the Yanukovych government. In the concluding days of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, she was released after three years in jail and her reputation was rehabilitated by the Supreme Court of Ukraine and the European Court of Human Rights. Tymoshenko began reforming the party, and Batkivshchyna went into the parliamentary elections of 2014 with new members—the top five including Nadiya Savchenko, Yulia Tymoshenko, Ihor Lutsenko, Serhiy Sobolev, and Alyona Shkrum. Based on the election results, the party received 19 seats in the Ukrainian parliament: 17 according to party lists and two through the majority system. Until 17 February 2016, the party was a member of the Second Yatsenyuk Government, but it later moved into opposition. According to the results of the local elections in 2020, the Batkivshchyna received 12.39% votes of voters, and became one of the leading parties in the local elections in Ukraine. Despite having a social-democratic image, the party joined the European People's Party in 2008. Nevertheless, Batkivshchyna maintains its centre-left position. It is in favor of Ukraine's integration into the EU and joining NATO.
History
Early history
The predecessor of the party is the Association of Peace-loving Forces "Batkivshchyna", founded in 1995 by Volodymyr Prisnyakov, a rector at Dnipropetrovsk National University. On 14 September 1998, the General Prosecutor of Ukraine accused Hromada leader Pavlo Lazarenko of embezzlement, and in the following March, Tymoshenko established the "Fatherland" parliamentary group. The first party chairman was elected Viktor Drachenko, a former Communist Party secretary from Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. At the second congress, held on 18 December of the same year, Yulia Tymoshenko was elected chairman of the party, replacing Drachenko. Several months earlier, she was a leader in the Orange Revolution which enabled Yushchenko's election.
After losing several seats in 2002 and 2003, the bloc had grown to 40 members by September 2005. In March 2005, the Yabluko party merged with Batkivshchyna. Since 2008, the party has been an observer member of the European People's Party.
In 2009 Batkivshchyna put Tymoshenko forward as a candidate for the presidency of Ukraine. After its defeat in the elections, the parliamentary coalition ceased to exist, and Tymoshenko's cabinet was dismissed. Tymoshenko stated on 22 February 2010 that she would go into opposition. During the 2010 Ukrainian local elections party (political blocs were not permitted to compete in the election) was defeated by the rival Party of Regions in nearly all regions of Ukraine, although it remained the main opposition party. Although Batkivshchyna won seats in 19 of 24 regional parliaments, it did not win a seat in the Supreme Council of Crimea. In Lviv Oblast and Kyiv Oblast as well as in Ternopil the party did not participate in the elections cause it was unable to register its candidates. Yulia Tymoshenko claimed that "fraudulent Batkivshchyna party organisations were registered on orders from Viktor Yanukovych".
Batkivshchyna – United Opposition
On 16 November 2010, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc in the Verkhovna Rada was renamed the Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko-Batkivshchyna. During the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych, several criminal cases were opened against Tymoshenko. On 5 August 2011, Tymoshenko was arrested. On 11 October, she was sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of abuse of power and official authority when entering into gas contracts with Russia in January 2009. The Danish Helsinki Committee, observing the trial, came to the conclusion that it was politically motivated and included violations of the European Convention on Human Rights. Between 2010 and 2013, the European Parliament adopted six resolutions in which the persecution of Tymoshenko was named "politically motivated selective justice".
On 17 November 2011, party blocs were again banned in parliamentary elections. and on 28 December first deputy head of the party Oleksandr Turchynov said, "I believe that other political forces will join us".
Batkivshchyna, the former Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc member Reforms and Order Party and the People's Movement of Ukraine announced their intention to submit a single party list in the March 2012 parliamentary elections. On 7 April, Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced that the Front for Change party would join them on the single-party list.
The party's 2012 election program did not mention NATO, but its 2014 program stated that the party wants to annul Ukraine's non-aligned status and that it wants Ukraine to become a member of NATO.
The party is in favour of party-list proportional representation elections with open lists.
It Tymoshenko initiated a referendum on five issues: the supply of Ukrainian gas and nuclear electricity to the population with a 30% profitability; on the sale of agricultural land; on the sale of strategic property; the issue of legalization of cannabis; about the gambling business. be awarded to graduates who successfully passed testing for studies at Ukrainian universities.
On 15 May 2016, "Fatherland" prepared a statement in the name of the new Prosecutor General in connection with offenses in the activities of the National Commission, which performs state regulation in the energy and utilities relative to the unjustified increase of gas prices for the population.
On 23 May 2016, All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" launched a website called "Fair rates", which promotes the idea of establishing fair gas tariffs for the population.
In the parliament, Batkivshchyna advocates ban on agricultural land sales. The party also insists on adopting laws on development of Ukrainian agriculture. On 31 March 2016, Parliament adopted the law on family farms initiated by the party Batkivshchyna.
The party advocates decreasing of tariffs on housing and utility services for people, because they are set up too high artificially. On 21 April 2015, Yulia Tymoshenko initiated a working group to check the validity of utility tariffs. "Fatherland" party has made the reduction of tariffs for housing and communal services.
Batkivshchyna advocates strengthening the struggle against corruption—namely deoffshorization and independence of anti-corruption government bodies.
The party is also against selling and privatization of the state's strategic objects.
On 1 March 2021, the party in the Verkhovna Rada demanded to submit to parliament a draft law banning the import of electricity from Russia and Belarus. According to Tymoshenko, imports of Belarusian and Russian electricity threaten the country's national security.
Associated and merged parties
Associated in electoral block
- (2002–2012) Ukraine – Forward! as the Ukrainian Social Democratic Party
- (2002–2006) Ukrainian Platform "Assembly" as the Ukrainian People's Party "Assembly"
- (2002–2006) Ukrainian Republican Party (temporary merger with Assembly)
- (2007–2012) Reforms and Order Party
Merged
- (2001) Ukrainian Conservative Republican Party
- (2005–2007) Party of Free Democrats as Apple (temporarily)
- (2012) Reforms and Order Party, People's Self-Defense, Front for Change, People's Movement of Ukraine, For Ukraine!, Social Christian Party, Civil Position (members of this party were on its election list in the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election)
- (2013) Reforms and Order Party and Front for Change
Election results
Verkhovna Rada
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Year
! Votes
! %
! Position
! Seats won
! ±
!| Government
|-
! rowspan=3|2002
| rowspan="3" colspan="2" |With Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc
| rowspan=3|5th
| rowspan=3|
| rowspan=3|
|
|-
|
|-
|
|-
! 2006
| colspan=2|With Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc
| 2nd
|
| 107
|
|-
! rowspan=2|2007
| rowspan="2" colspan="2" |With Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc
| rowspan=2| 2nd
| rowspan=2|
| rowspan=2| 27
|
|-
|
|-
! 2012
| 5,208,402
| 25.54%
| 2nd
|
| 55
|
|-
! rowspan=2|2014
| rowspan=2|893,549
| rowspan=2|5.68%
| rowspan=2| 6th
| rowspan=2|
| rowspan=2| 82
|
|-
|
|-
! rowspan=2|2019
| rowspan=2|1,158,189
| rowspan=2|8.18%
|rowspan=2| 3rd
| rowspan=2|
| rowspan=2| 7
|
|-
|