(TheLibertyRevolution.com)- Over the weekend, the Ukrainian national security and defense council suspended the political activities of eleven opposition parties allegedly over their ties to Russia.
While most of the parties were small, one of the parties banned, the Opposition Platform for Life, is Ukraine’s largest opposition party holding 44 of the 450 seats in the Ukrainian parliament.
In announcing the decision on Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelensky accused members of the banned parties of “division and collusion,” vowing that they “will not succeed” but instead would “receive a harsh response.”
The Opposition Platform for Life is led by Viktor Medvedchuk, a pro-Kremlin oligarch with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
After Zelensky’s announcement, party officials said the move “had no legal basis.”
In addition to the Opposition Platform for Life, the parties suspended were Shariy Party, Nashi, Opposition Bloc, Left Opposition, Union of Left Forces, State, Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine, Socialist Party of Ukraine, Socialists Party, and Volodymyr Saldo Bloc.
Ukraine imposed martial law after Russia invaded which granted the government emergency powers. In his address on Sunday, Zelensky warned all politicians against putting political ambition or the ambitions of a party ahead of the interests of the state or the people during a time of war.
For the “sake of life,” Zelensky said “everyone must now take care of the interests of our state, the interests of Ukraine.”
In addition to banning opposition parties, Zelensky also signed a decree consolidating all national television channels into one platform, arguing that under martial law it was important to have a “unified information policy.”
In his opening monologue on Monday night, Fox News host Tucker Carlson blasted Zelensky’s move and argued that it is difficult to claim we’re supporting “freedom and democracy” in Ukraine when Zelensky is taking actions like these.
Tucker pointed out that Opposition Platform for Life had denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and said there was no evidence that any of these parties were colluding with Russia.
Tucker accused Zelensky of using the invasion as an opportunity to turn Ukraine into a one-party state.
Watch that HERE.
