Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Has Suspended 11 Opposition Parties. Here's Why

The largest of these parties, the Opposition Platform for Life, has 44 out of 450 seats in Ukraine’s parliament, and is led by Viktor Medvedchuk. He is said to have friendly ties with Vladimir Putin.

New Delhi: The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has ordered the suspension of 11 parties with alleged “links to Russia”, media reports said.

The largest of these parties, the Opposition Platform for Life, has 44 out of 450 seats in Ukraine’s parliament, and is led by Viktor Medvedchuk.

Medvedchuk is said to have friendly ties with the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin. Also, Putin is said to be the godfather of Medvedchuks daughter, a report by The Associated Press (AP) stated. Other parties who have been suspended include the Nashi (Ours) party, which is led by Yevheniy Murayev. Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, British authorities had warned that Russia wanted to install Murayev as the leader of Ukraine, the report stated. 

Quoting Zelenskyy in a video address on Sunday, a report by The Guardian said that the activities of those politicians aimed at division or collusion will not succeed, but will receive a harsh response.

“Therefore, the national security and defence council decided, given the full-scale war unleashed by Russia, and the political ties that a number of political structures have with this state, to suspend any activity of a number of political parties for the period of martial law,” the report quoted Zelenskyy as saying. 

Why Did Zelenskyy Suspend The Political Parties?

There was a large camp in Ukrainian politics before 2014, which called for closer integration with Russia-led international institutions rather than those in the Euro-Atlantic sphere. The pro-Russian camp, however, was marginalised in Ukrainian politics, after the Euromaidan revolution, and Russia’s actions in Crimea and Donbas, according to reports.

In 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. Following the Euromaidan revolution, and subsequent Revolution of Dignity, pro-Russian groups protested in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine, collectively called the Donbas.

According to an article published by independent news organisation Al Jazeera, the parties and politicians who have been branded as “pro-Russian” in Ukraine have very different relations with Russia.  Some of the parties suspended by Zelenskyy may have links to Russian soft powers, while others are themselves under Russian sanctions.

According to the article, the Ukrainian government’s decision to suspend left-wing and opposition parties has little to do with any objective war-time security needs of Ukraine. The article stated that the decision to suspend the parties has much to do with the post-Euromaidan polarisation of Ukrainian politics.

The decision also has to do with Zelenskyy’s attempts to consolidate political power that began long before the Russian invasion.

According to the article, the decision follows a pattern. The government of Ukraine, since last year, has imposed sanctions on opposition media and some opposition leaders on a regular basis. 

For instance, a year ago, the Ukrainian government sanctioned Medvedchuk. This move was made soon after polls started to show that the Opposition Platform for Life had more support than Zelenskyy’s “People’s Servant” party, the article stated. The United States Embassy in Ukraine also endorsed the sanctions against Medvedchuk and his TV stations. 

The Al Jazeera article stated that Medvedchuk has escaped house arrest and is hiding from Ukrainian authorities. He was removed from the party leadership.

The Opposition Platform for Life condemned Russia’s invasion, and called its members to join the forces defending Ukraine. 

The article stated the move to suspend pro-Russian political parties amid a Russian invasion should be analysed and understood in a wider context, rather than simply classifying it as a security necessity. 

According to the article, many people in Ukraine believe that the sanctions were designed and implemented by a small group attending Ukraine’s Security and Defence Council meetings, without serious discussion. 

The article stated that there is little reason to expect the suspension of the parties to be lifted once the war is over. Legal action will be taken by the Ministry of Justice, which will ban the political parties permanently, the article said.

The Ukrainian President’s announcement follows the introduction of martial law which envisages a ban on parties having alleged links with Russia. 

Senior Russian officials on Sunday slammed Ukraine’s decision to suspend a number of parties, The Guardian reported. Vyacheslav Volodin, chair of the Duma, a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions, said that it was another mistake made by Zelenskyy that will “divide the country”. 

The decision to suspend pro-Russian political parties comes as Zelenskyy aims to further assert his influence over Ukraine’s media sphere, the report stated.

The President of Ukraine signed a decree on Sunday, which aims to unite all national TV channels into one platform, citing the importance of a “unified information policy” under martial law.