Prime Minister of Ukraine

The Prime Minister of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Прем'єр-міністр України, Prem'ier-ministr Ukrayiny) is Ukraine's head of government presiding over the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which is the highest body of the executive branch of the Ukrainian government.

While in office, the Prime Minister is granted full legal immunity from all prosecutions and legal proceedings. The Prime Minister's office is headquartered in the Cabinet of Ministries building in central Kiev. The Prime Minister was paid a yearly salary of 202,776 UAH (US$26,770) in 2005.^[1]

Since Ukrainian independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, there have been 15 Prime Ministers (19 counting acting PMs). Mykola Azarov is the incumbent Prime Minister as of March 11, 2010.

Appointment and dismissal

The Prime Minister is appointed by the President with the consent of Verkhovna Rada. The consent is deemed granted by the parliament when a simple majority of its constitutional membership votes in favour of the candidate nominated by the President. The highest parliamentary approval to this date was received by Yulia Tymoshenko who was appointed the Prime Minister on February 4, 2005 with 373 votes in the Verkhovna Rada. Other prime ministers who received more than 300 votes were Vitold Fokin (332) and Leonid Kuchma (316).

The procedure of granting consent by the parliament is usually preceded by several days of comprehensive consultations and interviews of the candidate by the parliamentary factions. The approval by the legislature is not a mere formality. Some candidates were ratified by a narrow margin and a candidate may be turned down. For instance, in 1999, Valeriy Pustovoitenko fell short of 3 votes to be re-confirmed after he tendered his resignation at the second inauguration of President Leonid Kuchma in 1999. Kuchma chose Viktor Yushchenko as his alternative candidate. Another example is the approval of Yuriy Yekhanurov candidacy (he fell short of 3 votes to get approved and was confirmed on the second attempt 2 days later). When the constitutional reform of late 2004 was still valid (on October 1, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine overturned the 2004 amendments, considering the procedure of their approval unconstitutional^[2]), the President was restricted in his choice of the Prime Minister candidacy and was virtually obliged to nominate the person proposed by the parliamentary coalition.

The President may also dismiss any government minister or deputy minister (including the Prime-minister) at any time.^[3]

Prime Minister, as any members of executive branch, can not be a Member of Parliament.

Duties and powers

The Prime Minister heads Ukraine's executive branch of government, the Cabinet of Ministers and signs decrees passed by the Cabinet.

The Prime Minister has the authority to announce their candidacies to the Verkhovna Rada for ministry offices^[4] (with the exception of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Defense which are proposed by the President). The Prime Minister can also propose candidacies of heads of regional administrations to the President for consideration.^[4]

The Prime Minister can also countersign decrees and laws passed by the President. The constitution is silent on the exact regulation of the countersigning. The Prime Minister (and the respective minister) are responsible for the execution of laws passed by the Cabinet.

On May 13, 2010 Prime Minister Mykola Azarov claimed that ninety percent of decisions taken by the second Tymoshenko Government had not been implemented.^[5]

Vice-Prime Ministers

The Prime Minister has his First Vice-Prime Minister who heads the cabinet in the absence of the Prime Minister. Aside of the First Vice-Prime Minister there are several Vice-Minister who may be in charge of a ministry or a combination of several. In 1991–1992 there also was introduced an office of the State Minister-Minister. Traditionally Vice-Prime Ministers are in charge of a general state government policy vectors such as the Agro-Industrial Complex, Humanitarian Affairs, Economical Affairs, Regional Policy, others.

Dismissal and resignation

The Prime Minister, as well as any other Cabinet member, may resign voluntarily by tendering their resignation to the President. A resignation by the Prime Minister results in the dismissal of the entire Cabinet. After the adoption of the current Constitution (1996), only Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko lost his post this way.^[6]

Before the constitutional reform of 2004, the Prime Minister was usually dismissed unilaterally by the President. After the reform, the Prime Minister could only be dismissed by the parliament. Formally, the Verkhovna Rada needed to pass a resolution of no confidence in the Cabinet, which had to result in the PM's resignation. However, the parliament could not put the resolution on vote within one year after the approval of the Cabinet's official programme. The Cabinets of Prime Ministers Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych were dismissed this way with the latter refusing to tender his resignation to the President claiming a violation of the one-year period condition. The Cabinet of Yuriy Yekhanurov had also been formally dismissed, but the parliamentary act was subsequently repealed. After the annulment of the constitutional reform the President once again has the right to dismiss the Prime Minister at any time at his or her own discretion, while the parliament still retains the right to pass a censure motion against the Cabinet which leads to obligatory resignation of the Cabinet.

With each new presidential term, the Prime Minister (and the Cabinet) are obliged to resign. While the Prime Minister does not have a set term limit, he or she stays in office for the duration of the President's term (unless he or she resigns or is dismissed earlier).

Prime Ministers of Ukraine (1991 – present)

Since Ukrainian independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, there have been 15 Prime Ministers (19 counting acting PMs). Mykola Azarov is the incumbent Prime Minister since March 11, 2010. Yulia Tymoshenko was the first female prime minister in Ukraine.^[7] Viktor Yanukovych has served two terms as the Prime Minister of Ukraine for the total of 1,277 days. Valeriy Pustovoitenko has so far been the longest serving Prime Minister with uninterrupted service of 889 days.

Timeline

See also

• Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine

References

External links

• "Government portal" (in Ukrainian). Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. http://www.kmu.gov.ua. Retrieved 2008-03-06.