Chamber:
	Verkhovna Rada
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	29 March 1998
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:
	It will be recalled that the previous general elections took place over a span of nearly two years (March 1994 to December 1995) in an effort to fill all 450 parliamentary seats under the stringent majority system then in force. Based on this experience, the Electoral Law was modified in October 1997 to provide for a mixed (majority/proportional representation) electoral system. The 1998 poll was held simultaneously with voting for local bodies (regional, city and district councils). Since the previous elections, a standoff between President of the Republic Leonid Kuchma and the majority left-wing Parliament had led to general political paralysis. This was reflected in the platforms of the legislative contestants and especially their economic views, with the communists and socialists criticizing the President’s reform programme in this sector and the latter underlining the need to pursue it at a steady pace. Altogether over 6000 candidates vied for the 225 district and 225 party-list seats, with some 30 parties or blocs competing in the latter category. Polling day was monitored by approximately 400 foreign observers (including teams from the OSCE and the Council of Europe), working alongside local ones; they declared the voting in order but at the same time noted irregularities during the campaign period. Final results gave the largest number of seats (but not an absolute majority) to the Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU), led by Mr. Petro Symonenko, which was particularly successful in the party-list category. On the other hand, independents captured a number of the majority mandates; many of these were reportedly centrist businessmen. In this context, while the leftist camp made gains, a continuing legislative-executive power struggle loomed. Prime Minister Valery Pustovoitenko (People’s Democratic Party) stayed in office. On 12 May, the newly elected Parliament held its first session and the make-up of the reshuffled Cabinet was announced.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (29 March 1998): Elections results
Number of registered electors	37,107,023
Voters	70%

Round no 1: Distribution of votes
Political Group	%
Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU)	26.03
Rukh (People's Movement of Ukraine)	9.50
Socialist-Peasants' Alliance	6.33
People's Democratic Party (NDP)	6.33
Hromada Bloc	4.52
Green Party	4.30
Social Democratic Party	2.94
Progressive Socialist Party	2.49
Agrarian Party of Ukraine	1.81
Independents	31.23
Others	4.52

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU)	115
Rukh (People's Movement of Ukraine)	42
Socialist-Peasants' Alliance	28
People's Democratic Party (NDP)	28
Hromada Bloc	20
Green Party	19
Social Democratic Party	13
Progressive Socialist Party	11
Agrarian Party of Ukraine	8
Independents	138
Others	20

Comments:
	Available data

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	407
Women:	35

Distribution of seats according to age:
21-30 years	11
31-40 years	90
41-50 years	206
51-60 years	104
Over 60 years	31
Distribution of seats according to profession:
Engineers	162
Teachers	79
Economists	57
Lawyers	53
Farmers	38
Mass media	13
Military	10
Artists	10
Physicians	7
Mathematicians, geologists	6
Manual workers	3
Others	4