Political System of Ukraine

Political System of Ukraine

Ukraine is a parliamentary-presidential republic. The President of Ukraine is the head of the state. The powers of the government are divided into three branches – the legislative, which consists of the Verkhovna Rada, the executive, headed by the President, and the judicial, which is led by the Supreme Court.    

     The Ukrainian political system consists of a popularly elected President, a 450-person single-chamber Parliament – the Verkhovna Rada, and a Prime Minister, who is a head of the Cabinet of Ministers. The members of Verkhovna Rada are elected at general, equal and direct elections which take place every four years in the last week of March. The country is divided into 255 constituencies. Voting, which is not compulsory, is by the secret ballot and from the age of 18. The candidate polling the largest number of votes in a constituency is elected.

    The Verkhovna Rada is the highest body of the legislative power in Ukraine. It works at a session basis. It elects the Chairman from its membership. Chairman of the Parlament is the Speaker. The Speaker conducts meetings of the Verkhovna Rada and organizes its work. The main function of the Verkhovna Rada is making laws. It also calls for elections of the President, gives consent for the appointment of the Prime Minister by the President, performs oversight of the activity of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, declares wars and concludes peace, upon the President’s proposal adopts the State Budget and controls the execution of it.

 The President of Ukraine appoints the Prime Minister with the consent of the Verkhovna Rada, appoints members of the Cabinet of Ministers, heads of central bodies of executive power, as well as heads of local state administrations. The President of Ukraine is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He is elected for a term of five years with no more than two full terms.

    The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is the highest body of the executive power. There are 21 ministers in the Cabinet of Ministers. It carries out the fulfillment of the Constitution, as well as the acts of the President, develops and fulfills national programs on the economic, technological and cultural development of Ukraine. The executive power in the districts is exercised by local state executive administrations.

    The Constitutional Court has exclusive constitutional jurisdiction in Ukraine. It consists of 18 judges which are appointed for 9 years. The Supreme Court of Ukraine is the highest juridical body of general jurisdiction.

    The Constitution is the main law in the country. The new post-Soviet Constitution was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada on June 28, 1996. It consists of 15 chapters dealing with the political, social and economic structure of the Ukrainian State. The Independence of Ukraine was proclaimed on August 24, 1991 and approved by a nation-wide referendum on December 1, 1991. The first President of the country became Leonid Kravchuk.

    Ukraine has a multi-party system. It includes the Green party, Republican party, Democratic party, Christian-Democratic party, the Rukh, Liberal party, Socialist party and others. Small parties often create different coalitions or electoral blocs to participate in parliamentary elections.

 What kind of state is Ukraine?

Who is the head of the state in Ukraine?

What branches are the powers of the government divided into?