Party of Free Democrats
{{Short description|Political party in Ukraine}}
{{redirect|Yabluko|the Russian party|Yabloko}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox political party
| name = Party of Free Democrats
| native_name = Партія вільних демократів
| native_name_lang = uk
| colorcode = #46B82F
| logo = Yabluko Party logo.png
| leader = Mykhailo Brodskyy
| registered = November 1999
| split = {{plainlist|
}}
| merged = Batkivshchyna (2005–2007)
| membership = 1,000
| website = [https://web.archive.org/web/20101020192648/http://pvd.ck.ua/ua/ pvd.ck.ua] (Archived)
| country = Ukraine
}}
The Party of Free Democrats ({{langx|uk|Партія вільних демократів|translit=Partiia vilnykh demokrativ}}) is a political party in Ukraine led by Mykhailo Brodskyy. It was registered in November 1999 as Yabluko ({{langx|uk|Яблуко}}; Apple).{{in lang|uk}} [http://www.da-ta.com.ua/mon_mainnews/863.htm Партія вільних демократів], Database DATA
[https://www.chesno.org/party/201 Election results of Yabluko], Chesno The party has about 1,000 members.{{Cite news |last=Neef |first=Christian |last2=Schepp |first2=Matthias |date=2010-01-14 |title=Disillusionment in Ukraine: The Sad End of the Orange Revolution |language=en |work=Der Spiegel |url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/disillusionment-in-ukraine-the-sad-end-of-the-orange-revolution-a-671561.html |access-date=2023-12-28 |issn=2195-1349}}
History
Mykhailo Brodskyy, a member of the Hromada faction, formed a 14-member "Yabluko" faction in the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) in mid-September 2000.[http://pdc.ceu.hu/archive/00001291/01/27.pdf Ukrainian parliament: sketching a political portrait, [Center for Policy Studies] (25 September 2000)]
During the 2002 Ukrainian parliamentary election, the party won 1.2% of the popular vote and no seats (as Yabluko).
In March 2005, the party was merged into the Batkivshchyna party, led by Yulia Tymoshenko.{{in lang|uk}} [http://www.rbc.ua/ukr/vyboru2012/party/p2 Всеукраїнське об'єднання "Батьківщина" All-Ukrainian Union Batkivshchyna], RBC Ukraine In March 2007, however, Brodskyy announced the renewal of the party; renaming it to the Party of Free Democrats.
During the 2007 Ukrainian parliamentary election, the party failed again to win parliamentary representation.
In late October 2009, The party nominated Brodskyy as its candidate for President of Ukraine in the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election.{{cite web|url=http://www.ukranews.com/eng/article/228249.html|title=Leader of Free Democrats Party Brodskyi Applies To CEC To Register Him Candidate For President|website=www.ukranews.com|access-date=20 October 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091031232654/http://www.ukranews.com/eng/article/228249.html|archive-date=31 October 2009}}{{cite web|url=http://cvk.gov.ua/news/news_02112009.htm|title=CEC registered two more candidates for the President UKRAINE|work=Central Election Commission of Ukraine|publisher=Central Election Commission of Ukraine|access-date=2 November 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814044741/http://cvk.gov.ua/news/news_02112009.htm|archive-date=14 August 2011|url-status=dead}}
During the 2010 Ukrainian local elections, the party won representatives in municipalities and did particularly well in Cherkasy.{{in lang|uk}} [http://www.rada.cherkassy.ua/ua/newsread.php?view=1244&s=1&s1=17 Сергій Одарич формуватиме більшість у міськраді Черкас], Cherkasy city council website (8 November 2010) The party won one representative in the Cherkasy Oblast Council and 14 seats in the city council of Cherkasy.{{in lang|uk}} [http://www.pravda.com.ua/articles/2010/11/8/5552584/ Results of the elections, preliminary data, on interactive maps] by Ukrayinska Pravda (8 November 2010)
In the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election the party competed in one constituency;{{in lang|uk}} [http://apk.rbc.ua/ukr/vyboru2012/party/p33/okrug Candidates], RBC Ukraine as it was defeated, the party continued to lack parliamentary representation.[http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/126937.html#.UUzMyKnCus0 Party of Regions gets 185 seats in Ukrainian parliament, Batkivschyna 101 - CEC], Interfax-Ukraine (12 November 2012)
The party did not participate in the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election.[http://www.cvk.gov.ua/pls/vnd2014/wp501e?PT001F01=910 Alphabetical Index of parties in 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election], Central Election Commission of Ukraine In the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election the party had two candidates in constituencies, but both lost.{{Cite web|url=https://ukr.vote/en/parties/90|title=Електоральна пам'ять|website=ukr.vote}}