Verkhovna Rada
Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (Верховна Рада України in Ukrainian) (literally "Supreme Council of Ukraine" in English) is the official name of Ukraine's parliament. This name originates from a Soviet political tradition where a vertical system of Soviets (councils) existed. The modern Verkhovna Rada is the official successor of the Ukrainian SSR's republican legislature (which had the same name), which proclaimed Ukraine's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
The national Verkhovna Rada should not be confused with the Crimean Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian: Верховна Рада Автономної Республіки Крим) - the legislature of Ukraine's Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
Mission and authority
The Verkhovna Rada is the sole body of legislative power in Ukraine. The parliament determines the principles of domestic and foreign policy, introduces amendments to the constitution, adopts laws, approves the state budget, designates elections of the President of Ukraine, impeaches the president, declares war and peace, gives consent to the appointment of the Prime Minister of Ukraine, appoints or approves appointment of certain officials, appoints one-third of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, elects judges for permanent terms, ratifies and denounces international treaties, and exercises certain control functions.
Composition
The Verkhovna Rada is a unicameral legislature with 450 deputies (Ukrainian singular: народний депутат, narodnyy deputat) elected on the basis of equal and direct universal suffrage through a secret ballot.
The parliament elects from among its ranks the Chairman (Speaker, Ukrainian: Голова Верховної Ради), the First Deputy Chairman, the Deputy Chairman. The Chairman presides at parliamentary meetings, signs parliamentary acts, organises staff work, etc.
The deputies possess a full personal legal immunity during the term of office. On the one hand, this may help certain individuals to avoid the criminal responsibility. On the other hand, the immunity serves as a guarantee for the existence of opposition.
Elections
Dramatic political development of Ukraine has caused recurrent changes of the parliamentary electoral system. Each convocation of the Verkhovna Rada has been elected under a different law (gradually evolving from a pure majoritarian scheme of the Soviet time to a pure proportional scheme effective in 2006 under the transitional provisions of the constitutional amendments). The acting parliament was formed in 2002 according to a mixed majoritarian and proportional representation system. Under the election law of 2001 (as well as the previous electoral law of 1997), 225 of the Rada's seats were allocated on a proportional basis to those parties that gained 4% of the national vote in the parliamentary elections of 2002. The other 225 members were elected by popular vote in single-mandate constituencies.
Elections results and seats controlled
2002 Ukrainian parliamentary election (31 March 2002), percent of vote by party:
- Viktor Yushchenko "Our Ukraine" Block 24%
- Communist Party of Ukraine 20%
- United Ukraine Block 12%
- Socialist Party of Ukraine 7%
- Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 7%
- Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (United) 6%
- other 24%
Seats by party/faction: (as of the autumn of 2004, may rapidly change)
- Our Ukraine 102
- Regions of Ukraine 67
- Communist Party of Ukraine 59
- Trudova Ukrayina - Industrialists and Entrepreneurs 42
- Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (United) 36
- People's Power 22
- Socialist Party of Ukraine 20
- Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 19
- Democratic Initiatives 18
- Agrarian Party 16
- People's Democratic Party 14
- People's Choice 14
- independent and unaffiliated 21
1998 Ukrainian parliamentary election (29 March 1998), percent of vote by party:
- Communist 24.7%
- Rukh (combined) 9.4%
- Socialist/Peasant 8.6%
- Green Party 5.3%
- People's Democratic Party 5.0%
- Hromada 4.7%
- Progressive Socialist 4.0%
- Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (United) 4.0%
Seats by party/faction (as of 25 February 2000):
- Communist 115
- PRVU 36
- "Fatherland" Party 35
- Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (United) 34
- People's Democratic Party 27
- Trudova Ukrayina 27
- Rukh (K) 27
- Left-center 23
- Green Party 18
- Rukh (U) 17
- Peasant Party 15
- Hromada 14
- Reforms Congress 12
- independent and unaffiliated 45
- vacant 5
Meeting place
The parliament meets in a neo-classical building on Kyiv's Hrushevs'koho St., which adjoins a picturesque park and the rastrelliesque 18th century Mariyins'ky Palace (the ceremonial residence of the President).
See also
- Constitution of Ukraine
- Government of Ukraine
- Politics of Ukraine
- Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union
External link
- Official website of the Verkhovna Rada (With Ukraine's legislation database).