Analyses of Ukrainian Political System

by Ksenia Akchurina

This essay analyses the political system of modern Ukraine and describes the stages of its formation.
The structure of the paper is the following: first, we will examine the horizontal separation of powers in
Ukraine; second, we will move on to the vertical organization of political power; third, we will look into
the electoral system of the country; fourth, we will consider Ukrainian party system, paying special
attention to the stages of its formation; the last part of this essay raises the question about the political
regime of modern Ukraine.

The horizontal organization of political power in Ukraine is based on the principle of the power division
between the legislative, executive and judicial branches. Legislative power belongs to the Verkhovna
Rada of Ukraine (Constitution of Ukraine, art. 75). The Verkhovna Rada is a unicameral parliament with
450 people's deputies (Ibid., art. 76). The highest authority in the executive branch is the Cabinet of
Ministers of Ukraine (Ibid., art. 113). According to the Constitution the Cabinet of Ministers is
responsible to the parliament and the president (Ibid.). The president of Ukraine is the head of state who
is elected by popular vote (Ibid., art. 102, 103). Therefore, Ukraine is a presidential-parliamentary
republic. Since the declaration of Ukrainian independence, the balance of power between the president
and the parliament has changed several times. Thus, the presidency of Leonid Kravchuk, the country's
first democratically elected leader, is associated with the dominant role of parliament, while the
Constitution adopted under Leonid Kuchma in 1996 revised the status quo by significantly increasing
the powers of the president (Britannica, n.d.). For example, the country's leader was given the right, with
the consent of Verkhovna Rada, to appoint candidates of his choice to the posts of Chairman of the
Board of the National Bank and Prosecutor General (Averchuk, n.d.). In 2004, Ukraine went through
the Orange Revolution, after which some powers of the president, who at that time was Viktor
Yushchenko, were delegated to the prime minister, making the country move to a premier-presidential
system (Ibid.). This system existed in Ukraine until Viktor Yanukovych became the country's leader in
2010, restoring the previous presidential powers enshrined in the 1996 constitution (Ibid.). Nowadays,
Ukraine is characterized by strong presidential power: the country's leader combines the authority of the
head of state with some executive functions, enjoys a strong veto right enabling him to exert some
influence on the legislative process, and holds the position of supreme commander-in-chief (Ibid.). The
President also appoints a Prime Minister who is the head of government (Constitution of Ukraine, art.
106, sec. 9). According to the constitution, the Prime Minister is nominated by a coalition of Verkhovna
Rada deputies (Ibid.). As for the judicial branch, its highest authority is the Supreme Court of Ukraine
(Ibid., art. 125). The main function of the Supreme Court "is to supervise judicial proceedings"
(Britannica, n.d.). Its chairman is elected by the Plenum of the Supreme Court by secret ballot
(Constitution of Ukraine, art. 128).

Let us now look at the vertical organization of political power in Ukraine. First of all, Ukraine has a
unitary form of state structure. This means that the entire territory of the country is governed by a single
law, while the executive power within the administrative-territorial units is exercised through local state
administrations subjected directly to the central authority (Constitution of Ukraine, art. 118).
Nevertheless, the Ukrainian state guarantees its citizens the right to local self-government, which implies
the opportunity to engage in collective decision-making on local issues within the limits established by
law (Ibid., art. 140). At the top administrative level, Ukraine is divided into 27 territorial units (Ibid., art.
133). These include 24 oblasts, two cities of special significance (Kiev and Sevastopol), and the
Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Ibid.). The Autonomous Republic of Crimea is the only region of
Ukraine that has its own government, Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, its
own parliament, the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, and its own Constitution
(Ibid., sec. X). According to Article 135 of the basic state law, "the Constitution of the Autonomous
Republic of Crimea cannot contradict the Constitution of Ukraine" (Ibid., art. 135). There are 9 points,
including agriculture, urban development, tourism, public transport, sanitary and medical services,
which are under the jurisdiction of the Republic (Ibid., art. 137). At the time of writing this essay, the
Autonomous Republic of Crimea, as well as 3 other administrative-territorial units of Ukraine (Donetsk
Oblast, Luhansk Oblast, Zaporizhia Oblast) are in the zone of Russian occupation.

Now consider Ukraine's electoral system. As mentioned above, Ukraine is a presidential-parliamentary

republic. A characteristic feature of this state formation type is the appointment of the President based
on the results of a democratic vote. According to the Constitution the President of Ukraine "is elected
by the citizens of the country on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage" (Constitution of
Ukraine, art. 103). Elections are held every five years (Ibid.). A potential candidate has to meet a number
of requirements: firstly, to be a citizen of Ukraine (Ibid.); secondly, to reach a minimum age of 35 (Ibid.);
thirdly, to have been living in the country for the last 10 years (Ibid.); fourthly, to speak the State
language, which is the Ukrainian language (Ibid.). The allowable number of consecutive presidential
terms of office for a citizen is limited to two (Ibid.). Besides presidential elections, Ukraine has
parliamentary elections - elections for deputies to the Verkhovna Rada (Ibid., art. 76). According to the
Constitution, deputies of the Verkhovna Rada, similar to the President, are elected "on the basis of
universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot for a term of five years" (Ibid.). The minimum age
for a candidate is 21 and the minimum length of residence in Ukraine is five years (Ibid.). The Verkhovna
Rada of the first convocation began its work in 1990, replacing the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian
SSR (Britannica, n.d.). From 1992 to 1998, deputies of the Verkhovna Rada were elected under a
majoritarian system (Minakov and Rojansky 2021, 321). For the next six years Ukraine had a mixed
model of parliamentary elections: half of the deputies were elected from party lists, while the other half
from single-member districts (Britannica, n.d.). Following the 2004 constitutional reform that shifted
the balance of power in favour of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine introduced a purely proportional
electoral system aimed at stimulating party competition (Minakov and Rojansky 2021, 328). However,
the 2012 elections were again conducted under a mixed model (Ibid., 329). All Verkhovna Rada deputies
are now elected on the basis of party lists, i.e. in accordance with the proportional system (Britannica,
n.d.). In addition, regional parliamentary elections are stipulated on the territory of the Autonomous
Republic of Crimea (Constitution of Ukraine, art. 136). The term of office of the deputies of the
Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea has the same duration as that of the deputies
of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and equals 5 years (Ibid.). In 2014, Crimea was annexed by the
Russian Federation (Ibid.). Just before that, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine had decided to abolish the
parliament of the Autonomous Republic, but it continued to operate under Russian jurisdiction (Ibid.).
A new Electoral Code unifying electoral procedures for local, parliamentary and presidential elections
was due to enter into force in 2019, but President Petro Poroshenko vetoed it (Minakov and Rojansky
2021, 331). Minakov and Rojansky describe that period of Ukrainian history as a time when "the
country's electoral system itself thus became the object of an ongoing battle among the president and the
ruling parties, the parliamentary opposition, and the remaining oligarchic clans " (Ibid., 330–331).
Indeed, "the entire composition of the Central Electoral Commission was reshuffled in favour of the
President" and the Chairman of the Commission became the subject of a criminal investigation (Ibid.,
330). Nevertheless, the support of the Ukrainian oligarchs did not help Petro Poroshenko to win the 2019
elections, when Volodymyr Zelenski was elected as the country's leader (Ibid., 331). Thus, the electoral
system in Ukraine over the three decades of independence has repeatedly undergone serious changes
that reflected the ongoing confrontation of different political forces of the country.

The transformation of Ukraine's political landscape can be traced back on the basis of events that have
taken place in the arena of party struggle. Minakov and Rojansky divide the evolution of political parties
in the country's post-Soviet history into six main stages (Ibid., 327–332). The first stage coincides with
the period of Ukraine's formation as an independent state in the last decade of the twentieth century. The
Constitutional amendments introduced in 1990, a year before Ukrainian secession from the USSR,
launched a transition to a competitive party system which resulted in the emergence of several political
parties (Britannica, n.d.). Nevertheless, the early years of Ukrainian independence were characterized
by the absence of strong party players capable of competing with the old communist nomenklatura and
the nascent regional elites (Minakov and Rojansky 2021, 327–328). The second phase, which preceded
the constitutional reform of 2004, is the time when factionalism emerged (Ibid., 328). It was based on
the confrontation between supporters and opponents of President Leonid Kuchma (Ibid., 328). This
period includes a number of experiments on creating a "party of power" undertaken by the incumbent
elite, as well as the efforts made by the opposition to consolidate anti-governmental parties under the
umbrella of the "Ukraine without Kuchma" movement (Ibid., 328). The 2004 constitutional reform,
which strengthened the position of the Verkhovna Rada, marked the beginning of a third phase
characterized by increased party competition (Ibid., 328). During this period the regionalization of the
Ukrainian party system intensified: the interests of the pro-Russian south-east of Ukraine, in particular
Donbas, were represented by the Party of Regions, led by Viktor Yanukovych, while two other major
parties - Viktor Yushchenko's "Our Ukraine" and Yulia Timoshenko's "Batkivshchyna" - competed for
votes from the northwest and central regions, where pro-European sentiments traditionally dominate
(Ibid., 328). In the fourth stage of party development, the split between the regions took an even more
extreme form. The conflict escalated as Viktor Yanukovich came to power, followed by the destruction
of the opposition (Ibid., 329). In particular, Yulia Tymoshenko, a leader of "Batkivshchyna", a party
popular in western Ukraine, was sentenced to imprisonment (Ibid., 329). These events have increased
the popularity of radical forces, which include the far-right "Svoboda" party (Ibid., 329). The fifth stage
began with the revolutionary events of 2014, in the course of which the political landscape of the country
was radically reshaped (Ibid., 329). Firstly, the players who had previously occupied a central position
in the political arena were displaced from it: The Party of Regions ceased to exist and the
"Batkivshchyna" party split into factions (Ibid., 329). Second, new actors have come to the forefront of
Ukrainian politics, including Petro Poroshenko's "Solidarity" party, the "Udar" party, the "Samopomich"
party and the Radical Party (Ibid., 329). Third, a dramatic impact on the power reshuffle was made by
the loss of votes from pro-Russian electorate living in the territories that had split off from Ukraine:
Crimea and Donbas (Ibid., 330). The result was the rise to power of pro-Western and nationalist political
parties (Ibid., 330). Minakov and Rojansky highlight the inoguration of Volodymyr Zelenski and the
subsequent victory of "Sluha Naroda" (the party created by Zelenski) as the event that marked the
beginning of the sixth stage in the history of Ukrainian partyism (Ibid., 331). "This result was particularly
impressive as it reflected the almost nationwide support for "Sluha Naroda", contrasting with the
established regionalism in Ukrainian politics" (Ibid., 331), the researchers write. The remaining seats in
the Verkhovna Rada were distributed among four parties: "Batkivshchyna", "opposition platform - For
Life", "European Solidarity", and "Golos" (Ibid.). Most of these parties have a centrist orientation, with
"Batkivshchyna", "European Solidarity", "Golos" and the dominant party "Sluha Naroda" advocating
for integration with Europe, while "Opposition Platform - For Life" adheres to pro-Russian positions
(Ibid.). Thus, since Ukraine acquired independence, its party system has undergone a long process of
formation, during which time the political landscape of the country has repeatedly undergone dramatic
changes caused by turbulent domestic political processes.
Regarding the political regime of contemporary Ukraine, experts generally agree that it is a form of
hybrid regime in the process of democratic transition. Such a characteristic has been given to Ukraine
by the independent think tank Freedom House (Freedom House, 2022). Freedom House experts assessed
the level of political freedom in Ukraine at the end of 2021 at 39 points out of a possible 100 (Ibid.). The
information published in the think tank's report indicates that despite some positive trends observed in
the fight against corruption, pluralism of opinions in the mass media, as well as compliance of electoral
processes with the standards of honesty and openness, the country still has a number of significant
problems that slow down its progress towards democracy (Ibid.). For example, the country's political
institutions remain vulnerable to the influence of large financial-industrial groups and oligarchs, anti-
corruption measures are hampered by resistance from the judiciary, and the introduction of new
requirements for candidates makes elections less open (Ibid.). According to Freedom House experts, one
of the reasons preventing Ukraine's democratic consolidation is Russia's aggressive policy towards the
country (Ibid.). The same position is held by Minakov and Rojansky. According to the researchers,
Russia's military threat contributes to the increasing role of security agencies in the internal political life
of Ukraine, stimulates consolidation of power in the hands of the country's President, thus strengthening
authoritarian tendencies, and causes the growth of radical sentiments among political elites and ordinary
citizens (Minakov and Rojansky 2021, 346–347). Thus, Ukraine has not yet completed its transition to
democracy, but most forecasts made by the end of 2021 at the latest are rather positive.

On 24 February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, which is still ongoing
at the time of writing. Instead of a conclusion, I would like to finish this paper by expressing my hope
for the soonest possible advent of peace for both countries. Until the outcome of the war is clear, it is
difficult to make any predictions about the further political development of Ukraine.

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