Aktsent (Ukrainian: Акцент, formally Viche (Ukrainian: Віче; English translation: Union or Council)), is a political party in Ukraine registered in May 1993.[1][2][3][4] Before September 2005 the party was known as Constitutional Democratic Party (Ukrainian: Конституційно-демократична партія; Konstytutsijno-Demokratychna Partija).[5] Between 2005 and 2018 the party was called Viche.[1]
The party was founded by Inna Bohoslovska in 1993.[1]
At the 1998 Ukrainian parliamentary election the party was part of the election bloc "Elephant – Social-Liberal Union" (Ukrainian: Виборчий блок партій "СЛОн – Соціально-Ліберальне Об'єднання") that won 0,90% of the votes and no seats.[4]
At the parliamentary elections on 30 March 2002, the Constitutional Democratic Party was part of the Team of Winter Generation alliance, which didn't pass the 4% electoral threshold and obtained no seats.[4]
At the parliamentary elections on 26 March 2006, it won 1.74% of the popular vote and no seats.[4]
On August 3, 2007, Bohoslovska and other leaders of the party decided to participate in the 2007 parliamentary elections within party list of the Party of regions.[5] Ihor Didkovsky was elected as a new party leader.[6] The party considered a merge into Party of Regions in 2007 and did not participate in the 2007 election;[4] however on June 12, 2009 in Kyiv an extraordinary eleventh party congress took place.[7] After Bohoslovska quit the Party of Regions to take part in the presidential election of the next year in May 2009.[8][9] she became leader of Viche again.[10]
The party did participate in the 2012 parliamentary elections in 14 simple-majority constituencies but did not win parliamentary representation.[11][12][13]
The party did not participate in the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election.[14]
In 2018 the party changed to its current name Aktsent.[1]
In the 2020 Ukrainian local elections 8 persons won a local seat on behalf of Aktsent.[15] In the October 2020 Ukrainian local election for the Kharkiv Oblast Council former Governor of Kharkiv Oblast Ihor Baluta was a candidate for the party.[3] He, nor his party, were elected to this regional parliament.[16]
Party members see themselves as the heirs of the party, which operated in the early 20th century, and use the theory of modern liberal conservatism (Anglo-Saxon conservatism). In particular, party officials declare, that they represent the interests of the middle class – of businessmen and of intellectuals.[citation needed]