Politics of Ukraine

Constitution of Ukraine

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 28 June 1996, which mandates a pluralistic political system with protection of basic human rights and liberties, and a semi-presidential form of government.

The Constitution was amended in December 2004 to ease the resolution of the 2004 presidential election crisis. The consociationalist agreement transformed the form of government in a semi-presidentialism in which the President of Ukraine had to cohabit with a powerful Prime Minister. The Constitutional Amendments took force between January and May 2006.

The Constitutional Court of Ukraine in October 2010 overturned the 2004 amendments, considering them unconstitutional. The present valid Constitution of Ukraine is therefore the 1996 text.

Fundamental Freedoms

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 widespread 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 (see Freedom of the press in Ukraine). 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. Over half of Ukrainians polled by the Razumkov Center in early October 2010 (56.6%) believed political censorship existed in Ukraine.

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.

Executive branch

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 Prime-minister and cabinet are de jure appointed by the Parliament on submission of the President and Prime Minister respectively. Pursuant to Article 114 of the Constitution of Ukraine.

Legislative branch

The Verkhovna Rada (Parliament of Ukraine) has 450 members, elected for a four-year term (five-year between 2006 and 2012 with the 2004 amendments). Prior to 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.

The overall trust in legislative powers in Ukraine is very low.

Political parties and elections

Ukrainian parties tend not have clear-cut ideologies but incline to centre around civilizational and geostrategic orientations (rather than economic and socio-political agendas, as in Western politics), around personalities and business interests. Party membership is lower than 1% of the population eligible to vote (compared to an average of 4.7% in the European Union).

Former parliamentary parties

A faction of nonpartisan deputies under the name Reforms for the Future existed between 16 February 2011 and 15 December 2012. A faction of nonpartisan deputies under the name For Peace and Stability existed between 2 July 2014 and 27 November 2014.

In 1998 - 2000 there was another parliamentary faction Labour Ukraine that existed without its political party until it was registered by the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice in June 2000.

The Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union) was prohibited in 1991, however its members were not excluded from the Ukrainian parliament. They formed a parliamentary faction of the Socialist Party of Ukraine. For the 1994 parliamentary elections however the ban on communist parties was lifted and there were two parties with similar ideologies running for parliament the Socialist Party of Ukraine and the Communist Party of Ukraine that was reestablished in 1993.

Presidential Election 2014

Originally scheduled to take place on 29 March 2015, the date was changed to 25 May 2014 following the 2014 Ukrainian revolution. Petro Poroshenko won the elections with 54.7% of the votes. His closest competitor was Yulia Tymoshenko, who emerged with 12.81% of the votes. The Central Election Commission reported voter turnout at over 60% excluding those regions not under government control, Crimea and a large part of the Donbass. Since Poroshenko obtained an absolute majority in the first round, a run-off second ballot was unnecessary.

Presidential Election 2010

The first round of voting took place on January 17, 2010. Eighteen candidates nominated for election in which incumbent president Viktor Yushchenko was voted out of office having received only 5.45% of the vote. The two highest polling candidates, Viktor Yanukovych (34.32%) and Yulia Tymoshenko (25.05%), will face each other in a final run-off ballot scheduled to take place on February 7, 2010

Presidential Election 2004

The initial second round of the Presidential Election 2004 (on November 17, 2004) was followed by the Orange Revolution, a series of peaceful protests that resulted in the nullification of the second round. 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.

Judicial branch

constitutional jurisdiction:

general jurisdiction:

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.

Local government

Administrative divisions of Ukraine are 24 oblasts (regions), with each oblast further divided into rayons (districts). The current administrative divisions remained the same as the local administrations of the Soviet Union. The heads of the oblast and rayon are appointed and dismissed by the President of Ukraine and serve as representatives of the central government in Kyiv. They govern over locally elected assemblies. This system encourages regional elites to compete fiercely for control over the central government and the position of the president.

Autonomous Republic of Crimea

During 1992 a number of pro-Russian political organizations in Crimea advocated secession of Crimea and annexation to Russia. During USSR times Crimea was ceded from Russia to Ukraine in 1954 by First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev to mark the 300th anniversary of the Treaty of Pereyaslav. In July 1992, the Crimean and Ukrainian parliaments determined that Crimea would remain under Ukrainian jurisdiction while retaining significant cultural and economic autonomy, thus creating the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

The Crimean peninsula—while under Ukraininan sovereignty, served as site for major military bases of both Ukrainian and Russian forces, and was heavily populated by ethnic Russians.

In early 2014, Ukraine's pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovich, was ousted by Ukraininans over his refusal to ally Ukraine with the European Union, rather than Russia. In response, Russia invaded Crimea in February 2014 and occupied it.

In March, 2014, a a controversial referendum was held in Crimea with 97% of voters backing joining Russia. On 18 March 2014, Russia and the new, self-proclaimed Republic of Crimea signed a treaty of accession of the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol in the Russian Federation. In response, the UN General Assembly passed resolution 68/262 declaring the referendum invalid, and officially supporting Ukraine's claim to Crimea. Although Russian retains administrative control of the peninsula, Ukraine and nearly all other nations reject Russia's claim to the territory.

International organization participation

BSEC, CE, CEI, CIS (participating), 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, Zangger Committee