Oleksander Moroz

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Oleksandr Moroz
Oleksandr Moroz speaking during his presidential campaign of 2004.
Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada
In office July 6, 2006^[1] – 2007
Preceded by	Volodymyr Lytvyn
Succeeded by	Arseniy Yatsenyuk
Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada
In office May 18, 1994^[2] – 1998
Preceded by	Ivan Plyushch
Succeeded by	Oleksandr Tkachenko

Born	February 29, 1944 (1944-02-29) (age 64) Buda, Taraschanskyi Raion, Kyiv Oblast, USSR
Political party	Socialist Party of Ukraine
Spouse	Valentina Andreevna (née Lavrinenko)^[3]
Children	Irina (1966) Ruslana (1972)
Website	http://www.spu.in.ua/leader.php

Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Moroz (Ukrainian: Олександр Олександрович Мороз, born February 29, 1944, in Buda, Taraschanskyi Raion of the Kiev Oblast) is a Ukrainian statesman and politician. He was the Speaker of Verkhovna Rada (parliament) of Ukraine two times: 2006 through 2007, and previously in 1994 through 1998. Moroz is one of the founders and long-term chairman of the Socialist Party of Ukraine, an influential party which, however, has lost the recent parliamentary election entirely and gained no seats in parlement.

1 Career before the collapse of the Soviet Union
2 Career from the collapse of the Soviet Union until the Orange Revolution
3 Orange Revolution
4 Political views
5 2006 election as Chairman of Verkhovna Rada
6 2007 parliamentary elections
7 Bibliography
8 References
9 External links

Career before the collapse of the Soviet Union

After graduating from the local school in 1960 Oleksandr Moroz graduated from the Agricultural Academy of the UkrSSR becoming a mechanical engineer. Then he worked in many careers, including as a teacher and engineer for twelve years, and joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, moving from the First Secretary of local Regional Committee of the CPSU to the position of the Head of the Kiev Oblast Committee and the Oblast Trade Union Committee. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1972 to 1991.

Career from the collapse of the Soviet Union until the Orange Revolution

On October 26, 1991, he arranged the congress that formed the Socialist Party of Ukraine (SPU) as a successor of the Communist Party of Ukraine. He has been a deputy of Verkhovna Rada since 1990.

Moroz ran as a presidential candidate from his Socialist Party of Ukraine in the 1994 and 1999 elections, he came third both times, with 13.04% of the vote in 1994 and 11.29% in 1999. In 1999, many experts predicted that Moroz had a chance to defeat incumbent Leonid Kuchma in the election run-off and according to many observers the government rigged the election results^[4] in favor of Petro Symonenko (of the Communist Party of Ukraine) in order to make sure that unpopular Symonenko, rather than Moroz, would compete against Kuchma in the run-off vote.

In 1996, Moroz together with several other parties prevented President Leonid Kuchma's attempt to concentrate most of the powers in the president's hands and led the parliament to adopt on June 28 the new Constitution that includes many positions close to the demands of left parties. In 1999 after signing the treaty of "Kanev Four" he became an acknowledged leader of the non-Communist opposition to Kuchma.

In 2001 Moroz at a sitting of the Verkhovna Rada made public "Mykola Melnychenko’s tapes" that alleged the involvement of the top leaders of the state (including president Kuchma) in the murder of famous independent journalist Georgiy Gongadze that provoked the political crisis in Ukraine known as the Cassette Scandal. Moroz was a member of a special board "Forum of national salvation", a representative of a Public Committee of Protection of the Constitution "Ukraine Without Kuchma" (and later "Rise, Ukraine!") in charge of negotiations with representatives of the regime.

In 2002 the Socialist Party of Ukraine (which included Yuriy Lutsenko, Josef Vinski, Mykola Rudkovski, Valentyna Semenyuk) got the fourth place in the Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2002. The socialists joined the “oppositional four” a group of parties that also included Our Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko Electoral Bloc and Communist Party of Ukraine.

Orange Revolution

In the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election, Moroz was nominated by the Socialist Party of Ukraine, which he has chaired since 1991. He won third place with 5.81% of the vote. As a longtime leader of anti-Kuchma forces, Moroz quickly announced his support for Viktor Yushchenko's presidential bid against Kuchma's prime minister, Viktor Yanukovich, thus making Yushchenko the favourite to win in round two. That Yushchenko did not win despite this endorsement was used to argue that there was election fraud in the run-off. Moroz supported the subsequent Orange Revolution, the mass protests that eventually led to the annulment of the vote results and to a revote won by Yushchenko. The support of the Ukrainian socialists he brought to Yushchenko was important to widen Yushchenko's appeal to voters^{[citation needed]}. Similarly, the votes of Moroz's Socialist party faction in Verkhovna Rada (parliament) were crucial for passing several important resolutions during the Orange Revolution, particularly the non-confidence vote in the Kuchma-Yanukovych government involved in election fraud scandal.

Political views

Since Oleksandr Moroz organized the left-centrist Socialist Party of Ukraine his party ideology largely evolved from orthodox Communism to Social democracy. He himself is a left-wing social democrat of the European type who uses both Marxist and Social democratic ideas. For this reason he met strong opposition from a more rigid wing of his party represented by the supporters of Nataliya Vitrenko. Finally, Vitrenko left the Socialist party, proclaimed the Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine and bannered Moroz as "Opportunist" and "traitor", much helping Kuchma to fight the opposition of Ukraine of which Moroz' Socialist Party was part. After the last radicals headed by Ivan Chyzh left the party and formed an organization called "Spravedlyvist" ("Justness"), Moroz was able to transform his party closer to the European Social Democratic model. Now the Socialist party led by Moroz is a member of Socialist International and had three ministers in Yuri Yekhanurov's cabinet, which ended partly because of the socialist party’s defection from the coalition.

Moroz and his party supported the political reform and Ukraine's transition towards a more European Parliamentary democracy, which shifted the power balance in Ukraine striping the President from some of his powers in favor of the parliament. During the Orange Revolution the SPU voted for some changes to the Ukrainian constitution, changes that made Ukraine a parliamentary and not a presidential republic. This constitution, pushed by Moroz and Petro Simonenko^{[citation needed]}, went into effect in January 2006, despite Yushchenko's furious opposition^{[citation needed]}.Moroz also speaks in support of the preservation of land for Ukrainian farmers and has made many promises about resolving social problems, using socialist rhetoric. The program of his party begins with a statement that demands real democracy for working people.

Moroz is often vilified by Vitrenko as well as some nationalists and communists.

2006 election as Chairman of Verkhovna Rada

Moroz was elected the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine late on the night of July 6, 2006 (238 ayes, 226 needed for election) with support of the Party of Regions, SPU, and communist factions. Those three parties became the governing coalition (the Coalition of National Unity)

The election was highly controversial, because the candidacy had been proposed in violation of the coalition agreement among Yulia Tymoshenko Electoral Bloc, Our Ukraine, and SPU factions. The Yulia Tymoshenko Electoral Bloc and Our Ukraine refused to appoint Moroz as Speaker. Our Ukraine insisted on having a member of there party in the speakership, claiming that they needed a major post for there party with Yulia Tymoshenko proposed for a return to the premiership.

The decision to join the Coalition of National Unity was further more motivated in part from Yushchenko's continued opposition to constitutional changes^{[citation needed]}. Also both Party of Regions and communist are just like Socialist Party of Ukraine opposed to Ukraine's membership in NATO (unlike Our Ukraine).

2007 parliamentary elections

At the 2007 parliamentary elections the SPU vote share collapsed and it failed to enter the parliament.

Bibliography

Moroz is fond of poetry and chess. He has written following books:

(1993) Куди йдемо?... (Where we go?...). Kyiv: Association "Postup". ISBN 5770750308.
(1995) Тема для роздумів (Subject for thoughts). Kyiv: Zlahoda. ISBN 5770755687.
(1996) Вибір (Choice).
(1999) Дорога, з якої не зійти (An unavoidable path). OCLC 58407685.
(1999) Між вічними полюсами (Between permanent poles). Kyiv: Parlaments'ke vydavnytstvo. ISBN 9667288935.
(2000) Про землю, Конституцію і не тільки (About land, Constitution and not only). Kyiv: Redaction of newspaper "Tovarysh". ISBN 966-786-400-6.
(2001) Хроніка одного злочину (The chronicle of the crime). Kyiv: Politrada SPU. OCLC 49307992.
(2004) Політична анатомія України (Political anatomy of Ukraine). Kyiv: Parlaments'ke vydavnytstvo. ISBN 9666112744.
(2004) Жива стерня (Live stubble). Kyiv: Parlaments'ke vydavnytstvo. ISBN 9666112736. Recognized by international literature award named after Hryhori Skovoroda.
(2004) ...З відстані (...From distance). Kyiv: Parlaments'ke vydavnytstvo. ISBN 9666112787.
(2006) Обличчям до вогню (Facing fire). Kyiv: Tomiris. Poetry collection in Ukrainian language.
(2006) Белый снег на каменной террасе (White snow on stone terrace). Poetry collection in Russian language.
(2007) Кують зозули. Kyiv: Parlaments'ke vydavnytstvo. ISBN 9789666115679. .

References

^ "Order of Verkhovna Rada on appointment of Chairman" (in Ukrainian) (2006-07-06).
^ "Order of Verkhovna Rada on appointment of Chairman" (in Ukrainian) (1994-05-18).
^ Pavlenko, Alla. "Anticrisis manager of Ukrainian politics" (in Russian). New Day magazine #25 (592).
^ Profile: Socialist Party of Ukraine's Oleksandr Moroz - RADIO FREE EUROPE / RADIO LIBERTY

External links

Political offices
Preceded by Ivan Plyushch	Chairman of Verkhovna Rada 1994–1998	Succeeded by Oleksandr Tkachenko
Preceded by Volodymyr Lytvyn	Chairman of Verkhovna Rada 2006–2007	Succeeded by Arseniy Yatsenyuk