On March 3, the XIV Congress of the “Ukrainian Association of Patriots – UKROP” was held in Kyiv. More than 400 delegates from all regions of Ukraine and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea participated in the event. One of the main issues on the agenda of the Congress was the election of a party head for a term of four years. This position was taken by the head of the UKROP political council, MP Taras Batenko. His candidacy was supported by 403 delegates.
“The head of the party is not a king, not a chief – he is a manager. The only thing I can offer to you, colleagues, is a work, hard work for the good of Ukraine and for our common victory,” said the newly elected head of the UKROP party Taras Batenko.
The head of Kryvyi Rih city organization of UKROP and the party faction in Kryvyi Rih City Council, head of ATO Veterans’ Council of the party Mykola Kolesnyk and head of Sumy regional organization of the “Ukrainian Association of Patriots” Vladyslav Lugovyi were also nominated candidates for this position. Mykola Kolesnyk was supported by 130 delegates, and Vladyslav Lugovyi received 56 votes.
In addition, the Congress participants approved the provisions on the election of a candidate for President of Ukraine from UKROP and formally initiated the primaries. The “Ukrainian Association of Patriots” is the first political party in Ukraine to choose its candidate using internal party voting.
“This is a simple and understandable decision-making process, not in the silence of the office, but in discussion with the party members. We are a living political force, which resolves all internal issues in a free and democratic debate,” explained Bohdan Yaremenko, the head of Kyiv city organization of UKROP, Chairman of the Board of “Maidan of Foreign Affairs” Fund.
Starting from March 4, during a month all the UKROP members without exception will be able to nominate and register their candidacies in the party secretariat. After that, during five months the applicants will present their programs in the regions. Voting for candidates will begin already in autumn at the conferences of regional, republican in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Kyiv and Sevastopol city organizations of UKROP.
“This is a very important step for our political force and for the country as a whole. UKROP will be the first in Ukraine to practice procedure of primaries in its work. Democracy in decision-making is the main thing for us,” added the head of the UKROP party secretariat Denys Borysenko.
He has also noted that the procedure of internal party primaries is quite widespread in a number of democratic countries in the world, in particular in the United States, Israel, the United Kingdom, Spain, and more recently in Italy and France.
Besides at the XIV Congress of UKROP the party treasurer was elected. This position was taken by a well-known financier Olena Belinska. Finally, delegates of the Congress adopted the Code of Party Ethics and amended the party rules.
“We are one team. We are moving forward to the goal. And we have only one goal – we want the order in the country, the rule of law and the Constitution to operate. We set high goals for ourselves and we run in the elections,” summed up the head of Volyn Regional Council, member of the UKROP party presidium Ihor Palytsya.
