(ANSA-AP) - KIEV, Ukraine - Ukraine's justice ministry has
barred three Communist parties from running in the upcoming
local elections, citing recent legislation. Ukrainian news
agencies on Friday quoted Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko as
saying that the three parties will be barred from the October
elections. The minister also pledged to file a lawsuit to ban
the three organizations. The Communist party has been an
important force in Ukraine, polling 13 percent in the 2012
parliamentary election, but its popularity plummeted over its
support for ex-President Viktor Yunukovych. In last year's
parliamentary election the Communist Party of Ukraine garnered
less than 4 percent of the vote. Ukraine passed several laws in
April banning the use of symbols from the Soviet years and
denouncing Communist ideology. (ANSA-AP).
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