Parliament

The main legislative body in Ukraine is the Parliament – the Verkhovna Rada (Supreme Council/Assembly) – with a single chamber consisting of 450 deputies elected for a five-year term (prior to the constitutional reform of December 2004 the term was four years). A new election law passed in March 2004 provides for the election of all deputies on the basis of proportional representation of parties. Only those parties gaining 3% or more of the votes cast gain seats in Parliament. Current legislation prohibits parliamentary deputies from holding any other paid posts, with some minor exceptions. In particular, this means that deputies appointed to government posts must resign their parliamentary seats.

A total of 20 parties or blocs of parties participated in the most recent parliamentary election on 30 September 2007. Those exceeding the 3% threshold were the Party of Regions, led by Viktor Yanukovych (34.37%), the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (30.71%), Our Ukraine-People's Self Defence (14.15%), the Communist Party (5.39%) and the Lytvyn Bloc (3.96%). A governing coalition was subsequently formed by the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and Our Ukraine-People's Self Defence.

Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine