History
After the events of Euromaidan, the Party of Regions de-facto ceased to exist, most of its former members founded the Opposition Bloc.[5]
In the 2014 parliamentary elections, the Opposition Bloc took 4th place, gaining 9.43% of the votes and receiving 31 seats in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the VIII convocation.
In November 2018, For Life and the Opposition Bloc united into the Opposition Platform - For Life, however, disagreements that arose on the basis of this inter-party association led to a split in the ranks of the Opposition Bloc and the exit of Yevheniy Murayev from the For Life party, who created his own political force Nashi.[6]
In the 2019 presidential elections, the OPZZh candidate Yuriy Boyko took 4th place, receiving the support of 11.67% of voters (2,206,216 votes). In the 2019 parliamentary elections, the Opposition Platform - For Life received 13.05% support (1,908,087 votes) on party lists, and 6 candidates also qualified in majoritarian constituencies. Thus, the party received 44 seats in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the 9th convocation.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, OPZZh took a pro-Ukrainian position,[7] although collaboration was widespread among party members.[8]
Opposition Platform – For Life was one of several political parties suspended by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine on 20 March 2022, along with Derzhava, Left Opposition, Nashi, Opposition Bloc, Party of Shariy, Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine, Socialist Party of Ukraine, Union of Leftists, and the Volodymyr Saldo Block.[9][10]
At the 24 March 2022 parliamentary sitting, five MPs announced their resignation from the Opposition Platform – For Life faction. Meanwhile parliament itself was consulting with the Ministry of Justice on actions against the party's remaining deputies, as Ukrainian law did not provide for a single mechanism for suspending the activities of the party represented in parliament.[11]
On 14 April 2022, the party's parliamentary group was dissolved in Ukraine's parliament.[12]
The group was created on April 21, 2022, with Yuriy Boyko as its leader.[13]
The group explicitly announced that it did not include Viktor Medvedchuk, Vadym Rabinovych, Vadym Stolar, and their supporters, who had belonged to the prior Opposition Platform — For Life party.[14] Some of these politicians had left Ukraine before the invasion started,[15] or are perceived as proxies for Russia within Ukraine.[16]
Policies
Before its ban, OPZZh was a pro-Russian party and adhered to the ideas of social democracy.[17]
According to Yuriy Boyko, the group contains "deputies willing to work for protecting Ukraine, helping the people, and rebuilding our country".[14]
The group supports the accession of Ukraine to the European Union[18][19][20][2] and Ukraine's accession to NATO.[21]
