The founders of the all-Ukrainian association of leftist and left-centrist political parties and non-governmental organizations called Left Opposition recently held a founding assembly in Kyiv at the Communist Party's initiative, the Communist Party reported on its official website on Monday.

Taking part in the assembly were the leaders and members of five political parties and 13 NGOs.

The participants adopted a resolution on setting up the association and endorsed the text of its manifesto, declaring "the consolidation of efforts for Ukraine's salvation and the protection of our compatriots' rights to peace, wellbeing, and security."

The association will focus on a peaceful resolution of the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine based on the implementation of the Minsk agreements and the decentralization of the governance system. To overcome the crisis in Ukraine, the Left Opposition will insist on introducing a socioeconomic governance model, renationalizing strategic enterprises, and creating new jobs.

The Left Opposition also intends to demand that the Russian language be granted official status.

The participants in the founding assembly put together the association's coordinating council. Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko, its members Heorhiy Kriuchkov and Valeriy Soldatenko, Progressive Socialist Party leader Natalia Vitrenko, and Union of Left Forces political council member Rudolf Povarnitsyn were elected its co-chairs.