Politics of Ukraine

Shortly after becoming independent in 1991, Ukraine named 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[1] 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.[2] 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".[3]

On February 21, 2014, the parliament passed a law that reinstated the December 8, 2004 amendments of the constitution.[4] 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.[4] 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.[4] According to Radio Free Europe, however, the measure was not signed by the then-president Viktor Yanukovych, who was subsequently removed from office.[5]

The president is elected by popular vote for a five-year term.[7] 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.

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. In the 2006 and 2007 Ukrainian parliamentary elections, all 450 members of the Verkhovna Rada were elected by party-list proportional representation, but the system returned to parallel voting in 2012.

The Verkhovna Rada initiates legislation, ratifies international agreements, and approves the budget.

Ukrainian parties tend not to have clear-cut ideologies[8] but are incline to centre around civilizational and geostrategic orientations (rather than economic and socio-political agendas, as in Western politics),[9] around personalities and business interests.[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] Party membership is lower than 1% of the population eligible to vote (compared to an average of 4.7% in the European Union[22]).[23][24]

constitutional jurisdiction:

• the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.

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 underway. Important is also the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, granted the broad rights of control and supervision.

Ukraine is divided into 24 oblasts (regions). Each oblast is divided into rayons (districts). The current administrative divisions remain 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. They 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.[25]

In 1992, a number of pro-Russian political organizations in Crimea advocated the secession of Crimea and annexation into 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 Ukrainian sovereignty, served as a 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 Yanukovych, was ousted by Ukrainians 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,[26] during occupation a controversial referendum was held in Crimea with 97% of voters backing joining Russia.[27]

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.[28][29]

• List of Ukrainian politicians
• Declaration of Independence
• Proclamation of Independence
• Corruption in Ukraine
• Cassette Scandal
• Ukraine without Kuchma
• Orange Revolution
• Russia-Ukraine gas dispute
• Universal of National Unity
• 2007 Ukrainian political crisis
• NATO-Ukrainian relations
• Ukrainian nationalism

Center for Adaptation of Civil Service to the Standards of EU - a public institution established by the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to facilitate administrative reform in Ukraine and to enhance the adaptation of the civil service to the standards of the European Union.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Politics of Ukraine.

• Ukraine: State of Chaos
• Short film: AEGEE Election Observation Mission
• Kupatadze, Alexander: "Similar Events, Different Outcomes: Accounting for Diverging Corruption Patterns in Post-Revolution Georgia and Ukraine" in the Caucasus Analytical Digest No. 26