Taras Kuzio’s Blog

Socialists Can Only Revive Without Moroz

The refusal of the Communist Party (KPU) to support a proposal by Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz to establish a left-electoral bloc is not surprising. Why should the KPU join with other left-wing parties that have little popularity when the KPU can enter parliament independently? The Socialists, Social-Democratic united Party and Progressive Socialists – all proposed as potential members of the left-bloc – each have 1% or less support while the KPU has 3-5% (with the remainder of the 20% from 2002 either having gone to the Party of Regions or to the afterlife).

Moroz is desperate to return to big politics. He should though instead be considering retirement in the interests of his party and that of Ukraine’s multi-party democracy.

Ukrainian politics and its young democracy have still insufficiently matured to a stage where party leaders respect the wishes of voters and take personal responsibility. In a European or North American democracy a party leader resigns if he or she leads an unsuccessful electoral campaign.

In July 2006 Moroz made a decision to move the Socialists from the orange coalition for which he campaigned in the 2006 elections to the Party of Regions. In doing so he placed personal interest above that of his voters, discredited himself and his party and permitted Yanukovych to return as prime minister. Eight months later the Anti-Crisis coalition’s bribing of deputies led to President Yushchenko’s decree to disband parliament.

Ukraine, like all European countries, has a history of respected Socialist and Social Democratic political thought – M.Drahomaniv, I.Franko, M.Hrushevsky, S.Petliura and others – going back to the nineteenth century. European and Canadian democracies have centre-left parties.

Ukrainian voters showed their political maturity by punishing the Socialists in the 2007 elections and they did not therefore enter parliament. The Socialists have ignored this punishment sent by Ukrainian voters and have not changed their leader, Moroz, who has refused to take personal responsibility for his actions and the crushing defeat of his party and its continued unpopularity.

Until Moroz is replaced with a leader not tainted by the betrayal of 2006 the Socialists will continue to remain outside parliament. Moroz – it is time to step aside and allow the SPU to choose another leader by going into retirement and maybe growing vegetables in your dacha. We might even find you a stand in Besserabky to sell them.