It will be interesting to see how liberal pro-Ukraine media outlets will twist this story in the upcoming days.
Over the weekend, after asking Israel for money and military assistance, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced he would be establishing martial law in his country to crack down on the pro-Russia sentiment of some political parties and media outlets.
Under his orders, Zelensky’s officials moved suspend eleven political parties, mostly on the left, who they believe are in cahoots with Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin and Russian independence.
“The activities of those politicians aimed at division or collusion will not succeed but will receive a harsh response,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a Telegram video address.
“Therefore, the national security and defense council decided, given the full-scale war unleashed by Russia and the political ties that a number of political structures have with this state, to suspend any activity of a number of political parties for the period of martial law,” Zelensky added.
Bans opposition parties and takes over all TV channels…
Putin is clearly a despot, but why is pro-war propaganda portraying this comic as a hero and champion of democracy and freedom? Gimme a break. We have no business there. https://t.co/Vy8w7L62TQ
— Maxime Bernier (@MaximeBernier) March 20, 2022
Here are the suspended parties in Ukraine:
- Opposition Platform – For Life,
- Sharij’s Party,
- Nashi,
- Opposition Bloc,
- Left Opposition,
- Union of Left Forces,
- Derzhava,
- Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine,
- Socialist Party of Ukraine,
- the Socialists, and
- Volodymyr Saldo’s Bloc.
While only two of the suspended parties have any representation in Ukraine’s parliament, it’s quite an alarming move from the ostensible “pro-democracy” liberal President.
Zelensky just used his Martial Law powers to ban 11 political parties, including left-wing parties. But don't expect this to have any effect at all on US politicians pontificating that Ukraine represents the last stand of Freedom and Democracy pic.twitter.com/yyTphVFaWL
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) March 20, 2022
The Opposition Platform for Life is considered Ukraine’s largest opposition party and is led by Viktor Medvedchuk, a pro-Russia leader with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Medvedchuk was charged with treason in May 2021 and put under house arrest. Ukrainian officials claim that Medvedchuk escaped house arrest three days after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
Meanwhile, while banning the largest opposition from the left, Zelensky curiously did not suspend any parties from the far-right including those with links to neo-Nazis.
Despite the crackdown on political opposition, the Ukrainian leader did not ban any parties with links to neo-Nazis, including the ethnonationalist Svoboda and neo-fascist group Right Sector.https://t.co/PXPTi2p5Ch
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) March 20, 2022
Additionally, over the weekend Zelensky signed a decree combining and nationalizing Ukraine’s media outlets using marital law as justification.
So much for democracy!
Let’s take a second to reflect on Donald Trump’s warning while sitting directly next to Zelensky.
https://twitter.com/RadioGenova/status/1505858275887222789
When he’s right, he’s right!
Author: Nolan Sheridan
