MOSCOW, October 24 (RIA Novosti) - The All-Ukrainian Union Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) political party was established in July 1999 and is currently led by Yulia Tymoshenko, one of the leaders of the Orange Revolution, a former prime minister and the runner up in the May 2014 presidential election.
The party's ideology is liberal conservatism and its platform is focused on "European values".
Batkivshchyna's election program is based on criticizing the president's policy and his peace plan to settle the conflict in the country's east. Tymoshenko is calling on Kiev to take more decisive steps in the Donbas, in particular, to win at any cost. "Our path to peace involves negotiating from a position of strength," Batkivshchyna's program says.
Moreover, Tymoshenko is calling for a national referendum on Ukraine joining NATO, cancelling the law on the special status of certain districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions adopted by the Rada (parliament), imposing sanctions against Russia and "having Russia recognized as an aggressor country and sponsor of terrorism, and the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics – as terrorist organizations."
Batkivshchyna participated in the parliamentary elections in 2002, 2006 and 2007 as part of Yulia Tymoshenko's Bloc. During the 2012 elections, a single list of candidates from the united opposition was drawn up.
In June 2013, Batkivshchyna united with the Front of Changes party, the Reforms and Order party and a group from the People's Movement of Ukraine party.
In August 2014 the party split, when parliamentary speaker Oleksandr Turchynov and Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk left and created the separate People's Front Party.
Currently, Batkivshchyna holds 86 seats in the 7th Verkhovna Rada.
Ahead of the parliamentary elections scheduled for Sunday, Batkivshchyna has submitted a list of 212 candidates to the Central Election Commission. The party has also nominated candidates in majority districts.
Batkivshchyna's electoral list is led by pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, the leader Yulia Tymoshenko and social activist Igor Lutsenko. Sergei Sobolev, the leader of the party's parliamentary group, ranks fourth, and Yelena Shkrum, who is currently dealing with the refugee crisis, ranks fifth.
