The Rada exit poll results are in, and they are a far cry from the 2012 elections, in which the Party of Regions, Fatherland, UDAR, the Communist Party, and Svoboda took the lead.
Petro Poroshenko Bloc – 23%
The Poroshenko Bloc is a party which evolved from President Poroshenko’s old party, Solidarity, which had been inactive since 2002. It merged with world-famous boxer Vitali Klitschko’s UDAR for the 2014 elections. The party is generally considered moderate but contains both liberal and conservative members. Its primary initiatives are finding a peaceful solution to the War in Donbas and the Crimean takeover, ending corruption, and becoming a full member of the European Union.
People’s Front – 21.3%
People’s Front was prime minster Arseniy Yatseniuk’s response to the gradual failure of Yulia Tymoshenko’s Fatherland party. He started it in partnership with Oleksandr Turchynov and the party list includes famous “Maidan” names like Tetyana Chornovol, a famous investigative journalist who was notably the victim of an assassination attempt during Euromaidan; Dmytro Tymchuk, the head of Information Resistance; and Mykhailo Havrylyuk, the “Cossack” who was publicly stripped naked and humiliated by Yanukovych’s Berkut special forces in freezing temperatures.
Self Reliance – 13.2%
Samopomich, or Self Reliance, was started by Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovyi. This newcomer is the biggest surprise in the election results.
Opposition Bloc – 7.6%
The Opposition Bloc was created from the remnants of the Party of Regions, which was overthrown in the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution.
Oleh Lyashko’s Radical Party – 6.4%
This party wants to use force to end the conflict in Eastern Ukraine and has found notably increased support as a result of Russia’s invasion. The party is right-wing populist.
Svoboda – 6.3%
Svoboda is led by Oleh Tyahnybok and, along with Oleh Lyashko’s party, is often described as radical. The party is also right-wing populist and also nationalist.
Fatherland – 5.6%
Yulia Tymoshenko’s Fatherland has found itself increasingly marginalized by its leader’s lack of popularity and purported association with the “old regime.” Two years ago, it was the most popular opposition party in the Rada elections. The departure of Yatseniuk and Turchynov, along with Tymoshenko’s vacancy from politics during her incarceration are likely to attribute to the party’s fall.
