UKRAINE

ELECTIONS HELD IN 2006

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Chamber:
  Verkhovna Rada
 
Dates of election / renewal (from/to):
  26 March 2006
  26 March 2006
 
Purpose of elections:
  Elections were held for all the seats in Parliament on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.
 
Background and outcome of elections:
  Constitutional reforms which came into effect in January 2006 extended the term of the Ukrainian Parliament from four to five years, and introduced a purely proportional representation system, abolishing the constituencies which had previously been used to fill half the seats in the 450-member Parliament. The reforms considerably reduced the powers of the president in favour of parliament and the prime minister, who is henceforth appointed by Parliament.

The elections of 26 March 2006 were contested by 45 parties. President Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine Party faced challenges from both its usual opposition and its former allies. The pro-Russian Party of Regions was led by Mr. Viktor Yanukovych, President Yushchenko's rival in the 2004 presidential elections. Meanwhile, Yuliya Tymoshenko, who had served as prime minister following the 2004 "Orange Revolution" before being dismissed by President Yushchenko, led the pro-western Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc (YTB).

The economy and corruption were the main issues in the 2006 elections. GDP growth had decreased dramatically after the Orange Revolution, from 12 per cent in 2004 to 2.6 per cent in 2005. Our Ukraine called for liberal pro-market and pro-western policies, including Ukraine's accession to NATO, which the Party of Regions strongly opposed in favour of closer ties with Russia. The YTB called on voters to give the State a stronger role in the economy. Both the Party of Regions and the YTB criticized governmental corruption and the January 2006 gas deal with the Russian Federation, which they said was made without parliament's consent and at too high a price.

The Central Electoral Commission accredited 1,673 international observers, mainly from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO). The observers generally described the elections as fair and democratic. Observers from the European Parliament noted some overcrowded polling stations, while specifying that these did not outweigh positive assessments of the elections.

A total of 67 per cent of the country's 37 million eligible voters turned out at the polls.

On announcement of the final results, five forces won representation in parliament, though none was able to secure an absolute majority in the new legislature. The Party of Regions came in first with 186 seats, followed by the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc winning 129, Our Ukraine with 81, the Socialist Party with 33 and the Communist Party with 21.

A long period of negotiation over the formation of a coalition government followed. On 6 July, Mr. Oleksandr Moroz of the Socialist Party was elected as the new Speaker with the support of the Party of Regions and the Communist Party. The Socialist Party subsequently withdrew from the coalition formed by the parties to the 2004 Orange Revolution. On 7 July, a new coalition was formed by the Party of Regions, the Socialist Party and the Communist Party, controlling 240 of 450 seats in Parliament.

On 3 August, after further negotiations, a National Unity government was formed by the Party of Regions and Our Ukraine, to be joined by the Socialist Party and the Communist Party. On 4 August, Mr. Yanukovych was elected as the new Prime Minister with the backing of 271 of the 450 members of parliament, ending four months of political deadlock.

The YTB remained outside the new coalition, criticizing the text of the National Unity agreement, and urged other parliamentarians to join the opposition. Our Ukraine withdrew from the governmental coalition in October 2006.
 
STATISTICS
 
Round no 1 (26 March 2006): Election results
Number of registered electors
Voters 67.13%
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes 24'409'135
 
 
Round no 1: Distribution of votes
 
Political Group Candidates Votes %  
Party of Regions 8'144'485 32.12  
Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 5'648'345 22.27  
Our Ukraine 3'536'459 13.94  
Socialist Party of Ukraine (SPU) 1'439'624 5.67  
Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU) 928'501 3.66  
 
Round no 1: Distribution of seats
 
Political Group Total
Party of Regions 186
Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 129
Our Ukraine 81
Socialist Party of Ukraine (SPU) 33
Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU) 21
 
Comments:
Sources:
http://www.cvk.gov.ua/vnd2006/w6p001e.html
http://www.mosnews.com/
Parliament (11.04.2006; 28.08.2006)
 
Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men: 411
Women: 39
Percent of women: 8.67
 
Distribution of seats according to age:
 
Distribution of seats according to profession:


 


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