Five candidates have registered for participation in the presidential primaries of UKROP, the party will be the first political force to hold in Ukraine. For the right to represent the “Ukrainian Association of Patriots” in the next presidential election the Deputy Head of UKROP in Kyiv Iryna Holovatenko, Baranivka Mayor Anatoliy Dushko, Deputy Chairman of the Commission on Party Control Oksana Tunik-Fryz and MPs from UKROP Vitaliy Kupriy and Oleksandr Shevchenko will compete.
Iryna Holovatenko in her program proposes decisive measures that will make it impossible for the president to provide “monocratic rule”; will strengthen the Armed Forces of Ukraine by introducing mandatory one-year military service for both men and women, with the opportunity to serve near home and stay at home for nights; clean up the law enforcement agencies; introduce compulsory medical insurance, and also develop science, education, art, culture and sports. She decided to take part in the primaries, because she wants to act and encourage others to do the same.
Another candidate, Anatoliy Dushko, in his pre-election program “Live for the Future” stresses the urgent need to strengthen national security by creating professional contract army. As part of the reform of Parliament, the UKROP member calls for the abolition of parliamentary immunity and the introduction of a rating of deputies, depending on their activities. In addition, Anatoliy Dushko proposes to implement early specialization in schools, to support farming and to facilitate business in all areas. He decided to take part in the primaries because he felt obliged to use his own management experience in order to develop the country.
Vitaliy Kupriy in his program of the applicant proposed to take away from the President all functions of the executive, legislative and judicial authorities. In the framework of the parliamentary reform, the UKROP member stresses the need to reduce the number of people’s deputies to 300, as well as to introduce the termination of powers of an MP in the event of missing more than 10% of meetings without a clear reason. Vitaliy Kupriy plans to develop the army according to NATO standards and take all measures to oust the aggressor from Ukraine. In addition, his program provides for a complete change of the leadership of law enforcement and judicial bodies, as well as their cleansing of corrupt officials. He decided to take part in the primaries, because he is convinced that thirteen years of experience in advocacy will help to cope with the functions of the Guarantor of the Constitution in case of victory in the elections.
The pre-election program of Oksana Tunik-Fryz is entitled “7 steps towards a new Ukraine”. Within its framework, the candidate calls to end the war in eastern Ukraine with a victory; develop the agricultural sector; create favorable conditions for personal and professional development of every Ukrainian; overcome the demographic catastrophe in the country; build a safe society by creating a municipal police; develop cities and ensure the European integration not with slogans, but with specific affairs. She decided to take part in the primaries because she knows how to make Ukraine peaceful, safe and prosperous.
At the same time the core direction of Oleksandr Shevchenko’s program, entitled “Country of Dignity and Truth”, is an aggressive and systematic fight against corruption. It will help Ukraine to win respect in the world, as well as to create decent conditions for all Ukrainians. Another key objective of the program is the creation of a strong country that will be able to avoid a “big war”, but will return the Crimea and territories in the east of Ukraine. The third important step of the program is to overcome the bureaucracy at all the levels and create an “easy state”. He decided to take part in the primaries to implement the development program of Ukraine, which is based on the dignity of the state in the world and the citizen in the state.
More information about candidates and their programs can be found here: http://www.ukrop.com.ua/uk/primaries.
The start of the UKROP party presidential primaries was announced at the Party Congress on March 3. Those willing to compete for a senior position in the state submitted the relevant applications to the secretariat of the political force. After the end of registration, the applicants will have five months to present their programs in the regions. The only candidate for the President from UKROP will be nominated by the end of the year at the next Party Congress.
It is to be recalled, UKROP was the first among political parties in Ukraine to begin the primaries procedure. The candidate for President will be elected by open public voting. Primaries are a common practice for many democratic countries in the world. They are widely used, in particular, in the United States, Great Britain, Israel, Spain, and more recently in Italy and France.
