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UKRAINE
Verkhovna Rada (Parliament)
ELECTIONS IN 2007

Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module

A historical Archive of past election results for this chamber can be found on a separate page

Parliament name (generic / translated) Verkhovna Rada / Parliament
Structure of parliament Unicameral
BACKGROUND
Dates of election / renewal (from/to) 30 September 2007
Purpose of elections Elections were held for all seats in the Parliament following the publication of a Presidential Decree of 1 June 2007 that called for early elections. Elections to the Parliament had previously taken place on 26 March 2006.
The elections held in September 2007 followed a period of political turmoil since the previous elections in March 2006 when no party secured an absolute majority.

In March 2006 the Party of Regions of Mr. Viktor Yanukovych President Victor Yushchenko's rival in the 2004 presidential elections came in first with 186 seats. The Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc (YTB) followed with 129 seats. President Yushchenko's Our Ukraine took 81 seats followed by the Socialist Party led by Mr. Oleksandr Moroz with 33 while the remaining 21 seats went to the Communist Party. On 6 July Mr. Moroz was elected Speaker of Parliament with the support of the Party of Regions and the Communist Party. After long negotiations a National Unity government was formed on 1 August by the Party of Regions and Our Ukraine which was subsequently joined by the Socialist Party and the Communist Party while the YTB remained outside the new coalition. On 4 August Mr. Yanukovych was elected as the new Prime Minister.

However Our Ukraine withdrew from the governmental coalition in October 2006. This triggered a standoff between the President and the Parliament where the ruling coalition (comprising the Party of Regions the Socialist Party and the Communist Party) then held 240 of the 450 seats. Members of Our Ukraine joined the YTB in boycotting parliamentary sessions. The Ukrainian Constitution stipulates that the Parliament is considered to be a full-fledged legislative organ provided that it has more than 300 deputies.

In April 2007 President Yushchenko issued two presidential decrees dissolving the Parliament and calling early elections for 27 May 2007 subsequently postponed to 24 June. The ruling coalition rejected the presidential decrees insisting that the dissolution was unconstitutional. The President claimed the ruling coalition was illegally trying to change the 2006 parliamentary election results by urging members of Our Ukraine and the YTB to switch political affiliation in order for the parliament to meet the quorum requirement.

On 18 April in support of the President's decision to dissolve parliament approximately 150 members of the YTB and Our Ukraine parties tendered their resignation. Constitutionally their resignation needed to be approved by a majority vote of 226 of the 450-member parliament. However the process was never completed. In June parliament terminated the mandate of more than 150 members who had resigned from their political factions as foreseen in article 81 (6) of the Constitution (see note 1).

After an almost two-month standoff in late May President Yushchenko Prime Minister Yanukovych and Speaker Moroz reached an agreement to call elections on 30 September. At least 150 supporters and opponents of dissolution subsequently resigned to meet the constitutional requirement for dissolution.

The Constitution stipulates that the parliamentary mandate expires on the date when the new Parliament holds its first meeting. Speaker Moroz therefore continued to convene parliamentary sessions which were attended by some 270 members. They argued that the parliament needed to address the lifting of parliamentary immunity and other privileges before the new elections. President Yushchenko affirmed that the parliamentary decisions would have no force of law since the Constitution states that parliament is competent on the condition that no less than two-thirds of its constitutional membership has been elected. Despite the President's statement issued on 4 September the Parliament endorsed a bill on the lifting of parliamentary immunity from prosecution.

In the meantime the election campaign officially started on 2 August. In all 20 political parties and coalitions ran in the 2007 elections. The ruling Party of Regions of Prime Minister Yanukovych called on voters' support for further economic development referring to the strong economic performance under his government. He argued that President Yushchenko had created a political crisis instead of new jobs.

Nine pro-presidential parties (see note2) formed an electoral bloc known as "Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defence". Its leader former interior minister Mr. Yuriy Lutsenko promised to create a constitutional State accountable to citizens. He pledged to unify the nation and at the same time implement a new economic strategy.

The electoral bloc was in alliance with its former Orange Revolution coalition partner the YTB. The latter promised to work towards the country's further cooperation with Europe and immediate affiliation to the World Trade Organization. The re-established coalition pledged to abolish parliamentary immunity after the 2007 elections.

The centrist "Block of Lytvyn" led by former speaker of parliament Volodymyr Lytvyn was considered to be a potential kingmaker in a new parliament. The Communist Party led by Mr. Petro Symonenko did not join any electoral coalition.

A total of 62.02 per cent of the 23 million registered voters turned out at the polls. 2.73 per cent of voters chose to vote "against all parties".

In all 880 international observers including those from the European Union monitored the polls. They said the elections had been generally democratic and had met international standards in spite of a certain number of irregularities.

Five political parties and coalitions surpassed the 3-per-cent threshold to win a seat in parliament. Although Prime Minister Yanukovych's Party of Regions came in first with 175 seats the former Orange Revolution coalition (YTB and Our Ukraine - People's Self-Defence) - won a total of 228 seats securing a slim majority in the 450-member parliament. The "Block of Lytvyn" entered the parliament while the Socialist Party failed to win a seat.

Publication of the official election results was delayed due to an appeal lodged by four parties that had failed to win a seat in parliament and the Communist Party. On 25 October the Constitutional Court rejected the appeal leaving the election results unchanged. On 27 October the Electoral Commission published the final official results thus paving the way for the election winners to form a new government.

In the meantime on 16 October Ms. Tymoshenko and President Yushchenko signed a coalition agreement which would allow the YTB to name a new prime minister and the "Our Ukraine - People's Self-Defence" Bloc to choose the Speaker of parliament.

The newly elected members were officially sworn in on 23 November. On 29 November Our Ukraine - People's Self-Defence Bloc and the YTB formed the Coalition of Democratic Forces in the Parliament. On 4 December ex-Foreign Minister Mr. Arseniy Petrovych Yatsenyuk of the "Our Ukraine - People's Self-Defence" Bloc was elected as new Speaker with 227 votes. The Party of Regions the Communist Party and the Bloc of Lytvyn did not take part in the voting.

On 18 December Ms. Tymoshenko was elected as Prime Minister with 226 votes.

Note 1:
Article 81
Powers of a National Deputy of Ukraine shall terminate prior to the expiration of his or her term in office in the event of:
(6) his or her failure as having been elected from a political party (an electoral bloc of political parties) to join the parliamentary faction representing the same political party (the same electoral bloc of political parties) or his or her withdrawal from such a faction;
http://www.legislationline.org/upload/legislations/8f/b3/6b843faeedcd0d8d3da4ecb77698.htm

Note 2:
The nine parties are Our Ukraine Forward Ukraine! People's Movement of Ukraine Sobor the Ukrainian People's Party the Christian-Democratic Union Pora Defenders of the Motherland and the European Party of Ukraine).
STATISTICS
Voter turnout
Round no 130 September 2007
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes
37'588'040
23'315'257 (62.02%)
1'016'888
22'298'369
Notes
Distribution of votes
Round no 1
Political Group Candidates Votes %
Party of Regions 8'013'895 35.94
Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 7'162'193 32.12
Block "Our Ukraine - Peoples' Self-Defense" 3'301'282 14.81
Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU) 1'257'291 5.64
Bloc of Lytvyn 924'538 4.15
Distribution of seats
Round no 1
Political Group Total Number of women
Party of Regions 175 12
Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 156 12
Block "Our Ukraine - Peoples' Self-Defense" 72 7
Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU) 27 5
Bloc of Lytvyn 20 2
Distribution of seats according to sex
Men
Women
Percent of women
412
38
8.44%
Distribution of seats according to age
Distribution of seats according to profession
Engineers/PC experts 165
Legal professions 85
Economists 79
Educators 56
Farmers/agricultural workers (including wine growers) 19
Military/police officers 16
Medical professions (doctors dentists nurses) 14
Media-related professions (journalists/publishers) 13
Unknown 3
Comments
Sources:
- http://www.cvk.gov.ua
- IPU Group (26.11.2007 09.04.2008)

Note:
The percentage of votes under the "distribution of votes" section is calculated as follows: number of votes obtained by the party divided by the number of valid votes. The percentage on PARLINE thus differs from the one published by the Electoral Commission on 15 October 2007 which was calculated based on the number of voters.

Note on distribution of seats according to sex:
Thirty-eight women were elected on 30 September 2007. However after the formation of the new government on 18 December some female members who had been elected resigned to take up ministerial posts. Consequently the total number of women parliamentarians decreased to 37 (IPU Group 08.01.2008).

Distribution of seats according to age:
Under 27 years: 8
28 - 34 years: 39
35 - 45 years: 145
46 - 54 years: 132
55 - 59 years: 59
Over 60 years: 67

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