Politics of Ukraine
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 of Ministers. Legislative power is vested in the parliament. Scholars have described Ukraine's political system as "weak, fractured, highly personal and ideologically vacuous while the judiciary and media fail to hold politicians to account". Ukrainian politics has been categorised as "over-centralised" which is seen as both a legacy of the Soviet system and caused by a fear of separatism. Corruption in Ukraine is rampant, and widely cited, at home and abroad, as a defining characteristic of Ukrainian society, politics and government.
During Soviet rule, the political system previously took place in a single-party socialist republic framework which was characterized by the superior role of the Communist Party of Ukraine, the sole-governing party permitted by the Constitution.
The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Ukraine a "hybrid regime" in 2018.
Constitution and fundamental freedoms
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. On November 18, 2010 The Venice Commission published its report titled The Opinion of the Constitutional Situation in Ukraine in Review of the Judgement of Ukraine's Constitutional Court, in which it stated "It also considers highly unusual that far-reaching constitutional amendments, including the change of the political system of the country - from a parliamentary system to a parliamentary presidential one - are declared unconstitutional by a decision of the Constitutional Court after a period of 6 years.... As Constitutional Courts are bound by the Constitution and do not stand above it, such decisions raise important questions of democratic legitimacy and the rule of law".
On February 21, 2014 the parliament passed a law that reinstated the December 8, 2004 amendments of the constitution. This was passed under simplified procedure without any decision of the relevant committee and was passed in the first and the second reading in one voting by 386 deputies. The law was approved by 140 MPs of the Party of Regions, 89 MPs of Batkivshchyna, 40 MPs of UDAR, 32 of the Communist Party, and 50 independent lawmakers. According to Radio Free Europe, however, the measure was not signed by the then-President Viktor Yanukovych, who was subsequently removed from office.
Fundamental Freedoms and basic elements of constitutional system
The Article 1 of the Constitution defines Ukraine in particular sovereign, independent, social state.According to the Article 5 of the Constitution, the bearer of sovereignty and the single source of power in Ukraine are people. The people exercise their power directly and through state and local authorities. Nobody can usurp power in Ukraine.
The Article 15 of the Constitution established that public life in Ukraine is based on principles of political, economical and ideological diversity. No ideology could be recognized by the state as mandatory.
Freedom of religion is guaranteed by law, although religious organizations are required to register with local authorities and with the central government. The Article 35 of the Constitution defines that no religion could be recognized by the state as mandatory, while church and religious organizations in Ukraine are separated from state.
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. 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 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
Legislative branch
The Verkhovna Rada has 450 members, elected for a four-year term. 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 to have clear-cut ideologiesbut incline to centre around civilizational and geostrategic orientations,
around personalities and business interests.
Party membership is lower than 1% of the population eligible to vote.
Parties currently represented in the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament)
Former parliamentary parties
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.Parliamentary Election 2012
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 and Yulia Tymoshenko, will face each other in a final run-off ballot scheduled to take place on February 7, 2010Parliamentary Election 2007
Presidential Election 2004
The initial second round of the Presidential Election 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:- the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.
- the Supreme Court of Ukraine;
- high specialized courts: the High Arbitration Court of Ukraine, the High Administrative Court of Ukraine;
- regional courts of appeal, specialized courts of appeal;
- local district courts.
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
are 24 oblasts, with each oblast further divided into rayons. 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 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 non-binding resolution 68/262 declaring the referendum invalid, and officially supporting Ukraine's claim to Crimea. Although Russia administers the peninsula as two federal subjects, Ukraine and the majority of countries do not recognise Russia's annexation.