What is the political balance in Ukraine

[mikejackson]

Hi
Can someone tell me what the political strengths are of the local political parties. Also a rough translation as to which party is liberal, conservative, socialist, fascist, communist etc etc etc

Mike

[GB]

MIke,

Here is what I can give you, hope it helps.

Elections to Ukraine's parliament, known as the Verkhovna Rada, were most recently held on March 31, 2002.  The Verkhovna Rada has 450 seats and deputies are elected to four-year terms.  In the 2002 elections, the pro-reform ?Our Ukraine? bloc, led by former Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko, gained the largest share of the party list vote, with over 24 percent.  The pro-Presidential ?For United Ukraine? bloc did better in the single-mandate districts.  ?For United Ukraine? formed the largest faction in the new Rada, but after electing its leader, Volodymyr Lytvyn, as Speaker, this bloc broke into eight individual factions in June 2002.  As a result of the 2002 elections, Communist representation was cut in half, and the Communists sank from the largest to the third-largest faction.  Three other factions succeeded in entering the new Rada ? the pro-Presidential Social Democratic Party (United), the oppositionist Socialists, and Yulia Tymoshenko bloc.  A majority exists in the Rada, but it is unstable and votes have been marked by ad hoc coalitions among the factions.  This has made it difficult to move legislation forward.
 
The political center is dominated by pro-presidential parties controlled by ?oligarchs.? These parties include the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (United), Regions of Ukraine and Labor Ukraine.  Other pro-presidential groups in the center include the Greens, the National Democratic Party (NDP), the Agrarians and the Democratic Union.  Regions of Ukraine, Labor Ukraine, the Agrarians and NDP formed the electoral alliance ?For United Ukraine? for the 2002 elections, but returned to their individual factions in June 2002.  On the right are a number of moderate nationalist parties including the two main branches of Rukh, the Reforms and Order Party, and the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists, all of whom are now part of the ?Our Ukraine? faction, led by Viktor Yushchenko.  The centrist Solidarity party is also a member of the ?Our Ukraine? faction. Another group consisting of non-leftist opponents of President Kuchma has united into the Tymoshenko Bloc, led by Yushchenko?s former Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
 
The prime minister is appointed and dismissed by the president, although his/her appointment is subject to parliamentary approval.  The prime minister nominates and the president appoints the members of the Cabinets of Ministers.  Anatoliy Kinakh, the head of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, was removed as prime minister in November, 2002.  In his place, the Verkhovna Rada approved Donetsk oblast Governor, Viktor Yanukovych, as the country?s new premier.  The four opposition forces refused to vote for Yanukovych.   President Kuchma then signed a decree appointing Yanukovych Premier.
 
Ukraine's presidency remains the pre-eminent post in the Ukrainian government and economic and legal reform is primarily dependent on the president's support.  The President is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and has the power to veto legislation.  The parliament  may override presidential vetoes by a two-thirds vote.  Under the Constitution, Ukrainians hold presidential elections every five years.  President Leonid Kuchma was elected to a second term in November 1999.  Presidential elections will take place in November 2004, and all political forces are currently focused on positioning themselves to best advantage in these elections.

Please dont expect it to be as easy to segment parties as in the West. Most things in Ukraine are complicated.
GB
 

[Volodya987]

I quote, from "THE" Constitution, which was enacted by the Little Rada, on January 9 1918:
1. Every one of the Nations settled in Ukraine, within the bounds of the Ukrainian Peoples' Republic, has a right to national personal autonomy, i.e., to the right of independant arrangement of their own national life, which is realised through the organs of their National Union, membership of which their government extends to all of its members, independent of their place of settlement in the UPR. This is the irrevocable right of ALL nations, and NONE can be dispossesed or limited by this right.
2. The nations living in the Ukrainian Peoples' Republic - The Great Russians, the Jews, and the Poles - are given the right of national personal autonomy by force of this law. The Byelo-Russians, Bohemians, Moldavians, Germans, Tatars, Greeks and Bulgarians, may take advantage of the right to national personal autonomy, in the event a petition being sent to the Supreme Court by each nation, signed by 10,000 citizens, without any distinction to sex or faith, nor limited by the court in their political rights, who declare their dependence on a given nation. The Supreme Court will examine the petition at its public session, no later than six months from the date of delivery, informing the Cabinet of Ministers of its decision, and declaring it in public. Indicated declarations from nations not mentioned in this article, are transferred to and for the examination of the All-nations Assembly of the Ukrainian Peoples' Republic.
3. For the realisation of the indicated right in article 1, the citizens of the Ukrainian Peoples' Republic, belonging to any of the said nations, will create on the territory of the UPR, a National Union. There will be a list of names, which in popular meaning will comprise a "National Register", which, after being finally compiled,will be published for the general public; every citizen having the right to demand his inscription in the said National Register; and so, too his exclusion there by virtue of his declaration regarding the non-alliance with the said nation.
4. The National Unions..............
This is the preamble to mutual respect, normal relationships between people of different ancestry and a better future.
What's this fascist thing, dictating to ordinary people, both in Ukraine and in many countries on earth.?
Who is Koochma? Who is President G VV Bush? Khto yikh tam poklv? Zvitke ta khrobak veliz?