Ukraine – Forward! (, Ukrajina – Vpered!, Russian: Украина – Вперед!) is a social democratic political party in Ukraine. From its registration in December 1998 until March 2012 it was named Ukrainian Social Democratic Party. The party has, according to official figures, about 86,000 party members. The official name of the party is: Party of Natalia Korolevska "Ukraine – Forward!" (, Russian: Партию Натальи Королевской "Украина – Вперед!")
Ukrainian Social Democratic Party was from its first election in 2002 a long-time member of Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko (BYuT) but its leader Korolevska fell out with the BYuT's new leaders and they expelled her party from the bloc in March 2012. As a part of BYuT the party was always represented in the Ukrainian Parliament. But after running independently in 2012 it failed to win parliamentary representation. Party leader Korolevska did become Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine in the second Azarov Government on 24 December 2012. In the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election members of the party took part in the elections on the party list of Opposition Bloc; Opposition Bloc won 29 seats. From 2018, the party became a member of the Opposition Platform — For Life bloc, a pro-Russian political alliance, though the party no longer exists as a result of it being banned.
Ukraine – Forward! is commonly seen in Ukraine as a pro-business party and as representing corporate interests, although during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych and throughout Euromaidan, the party also campaigned for Yulia Tymoshenko's release from jail.
History
Party of Human Rights
The party traces its history back to 1994 when the Minister of Justice of Ukraine Vasyl Onopenko created his party, Party of Human Rights, which in January 1995 has united with the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Party of Justice, later named as the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united). Onopenko became famous for leaving the office of Minister of Justice in protest to the events of 1995 connected with the burial of the Patriarch Volodymyr and became known as the Black Tuesday. A major break up of the party took place in 1998, after which Onopenko once again created a new party.
Ukrainian Social Democratic Party
The Ukrainian Social Democratic Party (, Russian: Украинская социал-демократическая партия, УСДП) was founded in 1998 by former members of the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united). The first leader of the party was Vasyl Onopenko who in the Presidential elections in 1999 got 0,47% of the votes.
At the parliamentary elections on 30 March 2002, the party was part of the Yulia Tymoshenko Electoral Bloc alliance. Three members of the party were included to the parliamentary faction of the Yulia Tymoshenko Electoral Bloc: Vasyl Onopenko (MP), Volodymyr Levtsun (MP), Anatoliy Semynoha (director of "Agro-Ros").
During the parliamentary elections on 26 March 2006 the party also took part in the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc. Out of 129 seats won by the bloc only eight were given to members of the Ukrainian Social Democratic Party.
Top 10 members
In November 2006 Yevhen Korniychuk became the chairman of the party. He served as the First Deputy Justice Minister in the Second Tymoshenko Government.
In the parliamentary elections on 30 September 2007, the party was again part of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc., that won 156 out of 450 seats. Again the party only received eight seats in parliament.
Top 10 members
In August 2011 Korniychuk voluntarily resigned from his post in connection with criminal investigations against him. The leadership of Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc had accused him of working together with their arch-rivals Party of Regions. Former member of All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" (that party was also a member of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc) Natalia Korolevska was elected party leader on 23 December 2011.
Ukraine – Forward! Party leader Korolevska was expelled from the “Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko-Batkivschyna”-faction (formerly BYuT faction) in the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) on 14 March 2012. The same day the party stated on its official website "We are deeply shocked and outraged by the betrayal of the leadership of the faction "Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko-Batkivschyna". These events also made the party leave the Dictatorship Resistance Committee. But it assured it was still "in opposition to the current regime, the Yanukovych regime". On 15 March 2012 the Ukrainian Social Democratic Party was expelled from the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc for alleged "cooperation with the presidential administration and the ruling regime". Top 10 members