Politics of Ukraine

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Ukraine

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Ukraine

Constitution Parliament President Viktor Yushchenko Cabinet Alliance of National Unity Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych Judicial system Constitutional Court Supreme Court Prosecutor General Political parties Elections and referenda President 1991 - 1994 - 1999 - 2004 Parliament 1994 - 1998 - 2002 - 2006 National Referenda 1991 - 2000 Central Election Commission Orange Revolution Subdivisions Foreign relations Ukraine and the EU

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Politics of Ukraine takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic republic and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the Cabinet. Legislative power is vested in the parliament.

President

Parliament

Cabinet of Ministers

Constitutional Court

Contents 1 Introduction 2 Presidential Elections Crisis of 2004 3 Executive branch 4 Legislative branch 5 Political parties and elections 6 Judicial branch 7 Local government 8 International organization participation 9 See also 10 External link

[edit] Introduction

Shortly after becoming independent in 1991, Ukraine named a parliamentary commission to prepare a new constitution, adopted a multi-party system, and adopted legislative guarantees of civil and political rights for national minorities. A new, democratic constitution was adopted on June 28, 1996, which mandates a pluralistic political system with protection of basic human rights and liberties.

Freedom of religion is guaranteed by law, although religious organizations are required to register with local authorities and with the central government. Minority rights are respected in accordance with a 1991 law guaranteeing ethnic minorities the right to schools and cultural facilities and the use of national languages in conducting personal business. According to the Ukrainian constitution, Ukrainian is the only official state language. However, in Crimea and some parts of eastern Ukraine--areas with substantial ethnic Russian minorities -- use of Russian is wide-spread in official business.

Freedom of speech and press are guaranteed by law, but authorities sometimes interfere with the news media through different forms of pressure. In particular, the failure of the government to conduct a thorough, credible, and transparent investigation into the 2000 disappearance and murder of independent journalist Georgiy Gongadze has had a negative effect on Ukraine's international image.

Intense Ukrainization and return of Crimean Tatars to Crimea during 1992 prompted a number of pro-Russian political organizations to advocate secession of Crimea and annexation to Russia. (Crimea was ceded to Ukraine in 1954 by First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev, in recognition of historic links and for economic convenience, to mark the 300th anniversary of Ukrainian union with Russia.) In July 1992, the Crimean and Ukrainian parliaments determined that Crimea would remain under Ukrainian jurisdiction while retaining significant cultural and economic autonomy.

Official labor unions have been grouped under the Federation of Labor Unions. A number of independent unions, which emerged during 1992, among them the Independent Union of Miners of Ukraine, have formed the Consultative Council of Free Labor Unions. While the right to strike is legally guaranteed, strikes based solely on political demands are prohibited.

[edit] Presidential Elections Crisis of 2004

The Orange Revolution was a series of peaceful protests that resulted in the nullification of the results of the elections re-run on November 21, 2004. The Supreme Court of Ukraine ordered a repeat of the re-run to be held on December 26, 2004, and asked the law enforcement agencies to investigate cases of election fraud.

[edit] Executive branch

Main office holders

Office	Name	Party	Since
President	Viktor Yushchenko	NSNU	January 23, 2005
Prime Minister	Viktor Yanukovych	Party of Regions	August 4, 2006

The president is elected by popular vote for a five-year term. The President nominates the Prime Minister, who must be confirmed by parliament. The cabinet is de jure appointed by the President on submission of the Prime Minister, de facto it is appointed by the President upon negotiations with major political parties and parliamentary factions.

[edit] Legislative branch

The Verkhovna Rada (Parliament of Ukraine) has 450 members, elected for a five year term (four year until 2006). Until 2006, half of the members were elected by proportional representation and the other half by single-seat constituencies. Starting with the March 2006 parliamentary election, all 450 members of the Verkhovna Rada were elected by party-list proportional representation. The Verkhovna Rada initiates legislation, ratifies international agreements, and approves the budget.

[edit] Political parties and elections

For other political parties see List of political parties in Ukraine. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in Ukraine.

Ukraine has a large number of political parties, many of which have tiny memberships and are unknown to the general public. Small parties often join in multi-party coalitions (electoral blocks) for the purpose of participating in parliamentary elections.

Main article: Ukrainian presidential election, 2004

[discuss] – [edit]
Summary of the 31 October and 26 December 2004 Ukraine presidential election results

Candidates — nominating parties	Votes first round	%	Votes rerun	%
Viktor Yushchenko — self-nominated	11,188,675	39.90	15,115,712	51.99
Viktor Yanukovych — Party of Regions	11,008,731	39.26	12,848,528	44.20
Oleksandr Moroz — Socialist Party of Ukraine	1,632,098	5.82
Petro Symonenko — Communist Party of Ukraine	1,396,135	4.97
Nataliya Vitrenko — Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine	429,794	1.53
Source: Central Electoral Commission. On 3 December the Supreme Court declared the results of the 17 November 2004 run-off election to be invalid. The listed re-run was on December 26, 2004, following the Orange Revolution.

Main article: Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2006

[discuss] – [edit]
Summary of the 26 March 2006 Supreme Council of Ukraine final election results

Parties and blocs (parties and blocs with at least 1.0 % of the votes nationwide)		Votes	%	Seats
	Party of Regions (Партія регіонів)	8,148,745	32.14	186
	Bloc Yuliya Tymoshenko (Блок Юлії Тимошенко) All-Ukrainian United Fatherland (Всеукраїнське об'єднання "Батьківщина") Ukrainian Social Democratic Party (Українська Соціал-Демократична Партія)	5,652,876	22.29	129
	Bloc Our Ukraine (Блок Наша Україна) People's Union Our Ukraine (Народний союз "Наша Україна") Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Ukraine (Партія промисловців і підприємців України) People's Movement of Ukraine (Народний рух України) Christian Democratic Union (Християнсько-демократичний союз) Ukrainian Republican Party Assembly (Українська Народна Партія Собор) Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists (Конгрес Українських Націоналістів)	3,539,140	13.95	81
	Socialist Party of Ukraine (Соціалістична партія України)	1,444,224	5.69	33
	Communist Party of Ukraine (Комуністична партія України)	929,591	3.66	21
	People's Opposition Bloc of Natalia Vitrenko (Блок Наталії Вітренко Народна Опозиція) Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine (Прогресивна соціалістична партія України) Party "Rus'-Ukrainian Union" (Партія "Русько-Український Союз (Русь)")	743,704	2.93	0
	Lytvyn's People's Bloc (Народний блок Литвина ) People's Party (Народна Партія) Party of All-Ukrainian Union of the Left "Justice" (Партія Всеукраїнського Об'єднання Лівих "Справедливість") Ukrainian Peasant Democratic Party (Українська Селянська Демократична Партія)	619,905	2.44	0
	Ukrainian National Bloc of Kostenko and Plyushch (Український Народний Блок Костенка і Плюща) Party of Free Peasants and Entrepreneurs of Ukraine (Партія Вільних Селян і Підприемців України) Political Party Cathedral Ukraine (Політична Партія "Україна Соборна") Ukrainian People's Party (Українська Народна Партія)	476,155	1.87	0
	Viche (Віче)	441,912	1.74	0
	"Civil Political Bloc Pora-Reforms and Order Party" (Блок Пора-Партія Реформи і Порядок) Pora (Пора!) Reforms and Order Party (Партія Реформи і Порядок)	373,478	1.47	0
	Opposition Bloc "Ne Tak" (Опозиційний Блок "Не Так") Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) (Соціал-демократична партія України (об'єднана)) Republican Party of Ukraine (Республіканська Партія України) Women for the Future All-Ukrainian Political Union (Жінки за Майбутнє) Political Party "All-Ukrainian Union Center" (Всеукраїнський Союзний Центр)	257,106	1.01	0
	Others remaining (below 1%)	1,785,299	7.04	0
	Against all	449,650	1.77	-
	Invalid ballot papers	490,595	1.93	-
Total		25,352,380	100	450
Source: Central Election Commission of Ukraine (English)

[edit] Judicial branch

Main article: Judicial system of Ukraine

constitutional jurisdiction:
- the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.
general jurisdiction:
- the Supreme Court of Ukraine;
- high specialized courts: the High Arbitration Court of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Вищий господарський суд України), the High Administrative Court of Ukraine;
- regional courts of appeal, military courts of appeal, specialized courts of appeal;
- local district courts, military garrison courts.

Laws, acts of the parliament and the Cabinet, presidential edicts, and acts of the Crimean parliament (Autonomous Republic of Crimea) may be nullified by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, when they are found to violate the Constitution of Ukraine. Other normative acts are subject to judicial review. The Supreme Court of Ukraine is the main body in the system of courts of general jurisdiction. The Constitution of Ukraine provides for trials by jury. This has not yet been implemented in practice. Moreover, some courts provided for by legislation as still in project, as is the case for, e.g., the Court of Appeals of Ukraine. The reform of the judicial branch is presently under way. Important is also the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, granted with the broad rights of control and supervision.

[edit] Local government

Local government is officially guaranteed. Local councils and city mayors are popularly elected and exercise control over local budgets.

Practically, the scope of local self-government is limited^{[citation needed]}. A large-scale reformation of the local government (that would require new constitutional changes) is periodically urged since 2000, most actively by the Socialist Party of Ukraine and Oleksandr Moroz.

[edit] International organization participation

BSEC, CE, CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNMOT, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (applicant), Zangger Committee

[edit] See also

• Orange Revolution

[edit] External link

• Short film: AEGEE's Election Observation Mission