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According to the ] 67.13% of registered voters participated in the election. According to the ] 67.13% of registered voters participated in the election.


As of now the Central Election Commission (CVK) finished preliminary vote counting; the results can be seen at the . The official announcement is required to be made by April 10. The Head of CVK, Davydovych presumed that the Commission will be capable to produce the official vote counting by Tuesday, April 4. As of now the Central Election Commission (CVK) finished preliminary vote counting; the results can be seen at the . The official announcement is required to be made by April 10.


Based on the preliminary results out of 45 parties only 5 passed the required 3% ] (see the table below). Based on the preliminary results out of 45 parties only 5 passed the required 3% ] (see the table below).


Ukraine's President, ], party ] received less than 14% of the national vote, coming third after ], and ]. Comparing with the ], it came as a surprise that President ]'s party "]" received less than 14% of the national vote, coming third after ], and ].


There have already been calls for Viktor Yushchenko to resign from the Our Ukraine party and to govern for all of Ukraine and not just 14%. With the move to a parliamentary democracy, the role of the President is as Ukraine's head of state and no longer head of the government. Public opinion has been on the rise for the president to distance himself from party politics and to play more of the role of a statesman and mentor for the development of democracy in Ukraine. There is increasing support and belief that the President can best serve Ukraine as the nation's independent umpire then as a leader of a minor party. If Yushchenko was to take such a move and distance himself from Our Ukraine his standing in the public polls would likely increase. Some are calling for the President's withdrawal from Our Ukraine to be part of any negotiation in the formation of any possible government coalition. <!-- This is (1) is not directly related to the election, and (2) is an unsourced personal opinion: There have already been calls for Viktor Yushchenko to resign from the Our Ukraine party and to govern for all of Ukraine and not just 14%. With the move to a parliamentary democracy, the role of the President is as Ukraine's head of state and no longer head of the government. Public opinion has been on the rise for the president to distance himself from party politics and to play more of the role of a statesman and mentor for the development of democracy in Ukraine. There is increasing support and belief that the President can best serve Ukraine as the nation's independent umpire then as a leader of a minor party. If Yushchenko was to take such a move and distance himself from Our Ukraine his standing in the public polls would likely increase. Some are calling for the President's withdrawal from Our Ukraine to be part of any negotiation in the formation of any possible government coalition.-->


As per ] and the preliminary results, the ] was soundly trounced, getting less than 4% of the vote and 21 deputies as a result, as opposed to their 20% in the ]. As per preliminary results, the ] was soundly trounced, getting less than 4% of the vote and 21 deputies as a result, as opposed to their 20% in the ].


The ], recived over 3% of the formal vote but failed to pass the electoral commisions threshold, collecting only 2.93% of votes, 0.07% short of the required 3% ]. The Electoral Commison includes informal ballot papers in calculting the 3% threshold. Commenting the preliminary results the leader of the Opposition Bloc, Natalia Vitrenko expressed: "Based on what grounds CVK shows the total number of actual voters as 25,250 thousands? According to CVK data, 2% of votes are invalid, and 1,8% are "against all", therefore these numbers should be excluded. The base for calculations should not be more than 24,500 thousand; and that is 3% out of the votes that CVK counted for out Bloc." Nonetheless, according to the Law on Election, Article 1.4 "The mandates are distributed to the parties (blocs) that obtained no less than three percents of votes of voters that <u>participated</u> in the election" The ], despite some suggestions, did not pass the electoral threshold, collecting only 2.93% of votes, 0.07% short of the required 3% ]. Commenting the preliminary results the leader of the Opposition Bloc, Natalia Vitrenko expressed: "Based on what grounds CVK shows the total number of actual voters as 25,250 thousands? According to CVK data, 2% of votes are invalid, and 1,8% are "against all", therefore these numbers should be excluded. The base for calculations should not be more than 24,500 thousand; and that is 3% out of the votes that CVK counted for out Bloc." Nonetheless, according to the Law on Election, Article 1.4 "The mandates are distributed to the parties (blocs) that obtained no less than three percents of votes of voters that <u>participated</u> in the election"


A set of parties which did not pass the electoral threshold, notably ] and the ] have made claims of the elections being highly falsified and asked for vote recount. Recent reports in the media have indicated that Ukraine's President has also suggested that if necessary a partial recount of the March 26 ballot should be made. If significant mistakes were made in the tally of votes there is a chance for Opposition Block of Natali Vitrenko to exceed the 3% threshold required by law. A set of parties which did not pass the electoral threshold, notably ] and the ] have made claims of the elections being highly falsified and asked for vote recount. Recent reports in the media have indicated that Ukraine's President has also suggested that if necessary a partial recount of the March 26 ballot should be made. If significant mistakes were made in the tally of votes there is a chance for Opposition Block of Natali Vitrenko to exceed the 3% threshold required by law.


Over 22% of voters who supported minor candidates (with less then the 3%) will not be represented by the parties elected due to the electoral method used (] with an ]). The high estnt of disenfranchised voters lends weight for Ukraine to consider further electoral reform and the adoption of a ] system similar to that which exists in ], ] and ]. Under a preferential voting system supporters of minor parties would have their vote redistributed according to the voters indicated preference. Over 22% of voters who supported minor candidates (with less then the 3%) will not be represented by the parties elected due to the electoral method used (] with an ]).


It is expected that an 'Orange' coalition between (1) Bloc of Yulia Timoshenko, (2) Bloc "Our Ukraine", and (3) Socialist Party of Ukraine will form government when Ukraine's Parliament meets next time. A coalition of (1) Party of Regions and (2) Bloc "Our Ukraine" is also possible. Latest reports indicate that President Yushchenko is testing both options. It is expected that an 'Orange' coalition between (1) Bloc of Yulia Timoshenko, (2) Bloc "Our Ukraine", and (3) Socialist Party of Ukraine will form government when Ukraine's Parliament meets next time. A coalition of (1) Party of Regions and (2) Bloc "Our Ukraine" is also possible. Latest reports indicate that President Yushchenko is testing both options.


There is concern that if such a coalition is formed it will be short lived and Ukraine may very well see a new election within 12-18 months. Many commentators believe that a better alternative for Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine (14%) would be to form a coalition with the Party of Regions (33%). Such an alliance would represent a working majority of over 50% of the elected Parliament. It is argued that an alliance between Our Ukraine and Party of Regions would see a more stable long-term government capable of delivering real economic benefits and long term security to Ukraine. <!--- There is concern (by whom? reference please) that if such a coalition is formed it may be short lived and Ukraine may see a new election within 12-18 months (Why? if this coalition fails, a new may be organized). Many commentators (who?) believe that a better alternative for Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine (14%) would be to form a coalition with the Party of Regions (33%). Such an alliance would represent a working majority of over 50% of the elected Parliament. It is argued that an alliance between Our Ukraine and Party of Regions would see a more stable long-term government capable of delivering real economic benefits and long term security to Ukraine. --->
Under Ukraine's constitution the Verkhovna Rada must meet within 2 weeks from the date of the official completion of the election. After that it has up to one month to form a workable majority and to form a government. Should a majority coalition not be formed within that period the President, ], can dissolve the legislature and hold new elections. While it is not expected this may happen, it can nevertheless serve as a powerful ] that can be played by the President's "]" bloc in any coalition negotiations. Under Ukraine's constitution the Verkhovna Rada must meet within 2 weeks from the date of the official completion of the election. After that it has up to one month to form a workable majority and to form a government. Should a majority coalition not be formed within that period the President, ], can dissolve the legislature and hold new elections. While it is not expected this may happen, it can nevertheless serve as a powerful ] that can be played by the President's "]" bloc in any coalition negotiations.

Revision as of 23:07, 6 April 2006

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Distribution of votes through 225 electoral districts: leading party or bloc
Distribution of votes through 225 electoral districts: 2nd best result

The Ukrainian parliamentary election took place on March 26, 2006. Election campaigning officially began on July 7, 2005. Between November 26 and December 31, 2005 party lists of candidates were formed.

This election to the Ukrainian parliament, Verkhovna Rada, was held according to the proportional election system--that is, in a single nation-wide electoral district with votes being allocated to the political parties or election blocs rather than to individual candidates. In the previous parliamentary elections half of parliamentary representatives (deputies) were elected on proportional basis, while the other half were elected in single-mandate constituencies.

The constitution was amended in 2005 following negotiations and agreements during the 2004 presidential elections abolishing single member and replacing them with an increased multi-member proportional representation. The amended constitution, which took effect on January 1, 2006, also transferred some power from the President to the parliament making it a parliamentary-presidential democracy.

According to election law and system adopted, the political parties or election blocs need to collect at least 3% of the national vote in order to gain seats in the parliament.

Results

According to the Central Election Commission of Ukraine 67.13% of registered voters participated in the election.

As of now the Central Election Commission (CVK) finished preliminary vote counting; the results can be seen at the Commission's website. The official announcement is required to be made by April 10.

Based on the preliminary results out of 45 parties only 5 passed the required 3% electoral threshold (see the table below).

Comparing with the early polls, it came as a surprise that President Viktor Yushchenko's party "Our Ukraine" received less than 14% of the national vote, coming third after Party of Regions, and Yulia Timoshenko Bloc.


As per preliminary results, the Ukranian Communist Party was soundly trounced, getting less than 4% of the vote and 21 deputies as a result, as opposed to their 20% in the 2002 elections.

The People's Opposition Bloc of Natalia Vitrenko, despite some suggestions, did not pass the electoral threshold, collecting only 2.93% of votes, 0.07% short of the required 3% electoral threshold. Commenting the preliminary results the leader of the Opposition Bloc, Natalia Vitrenko expressed: "Based on what grounds CVK shows the total number of actual voters as 25,250 thousands? According to CVK data, 2% of votes are invalid, and 1,8% are "against all", therefore these numbers should be excluded. The base for calculations should not be more than 24,500 thousand; and that is 3% out of the votes that CVK counted for out Bloc." Nonetheless, according to the Law on Election, Article 1.4 "The mandates are distributed to the parties (blocs) that obtained no less than three percents of votes of voters that participated in the election"

A set of parties which did not pass the electoral threshold, notably People's Opposition Bloc of Natalia Vitrenko and the Opposition Bloc "Ne Tak" have made claims of the elections being highly falsified and asked for vote recount. Recent reports in the media have indicated that Ukraine's President has also suggested that if necessary a partial recount of the March 26 ballot should be made. If significant mistakes were made in the tally of votes there is a chance for Opposition Block of Natali Vitrenko to exceed the 3% threshold required by law.

Over 22% of voters who supported minor candidates (with less then the 3%) will not be represented by the parties elected due to the electoral method used (party list proportional representation with an election threshold).

It is expected that an 'Orange' coalition between (1) Bloc of Yulia Timoshenko, (2) Bloc "Our Ukraine", and (3) Socialist Party of Ukraine will form government when Ukraine's Parliament meets next time. A coalition of (1) Party of Regions and (2) Bloc "Our Ukraine" is also possible. Latest reports indicate that President Yushchenko is testing both options.


Under Ukraine's constitution the Verkhovna Rada must meet within 2 weeks from the date of the official completion of the election. After that it has up to one month to form a workable majority and to form a government. Should a majority coalition not be formed within that period the President, Viktor Yushchenko, can dissolve the legislature and hold new elections. While it is not expected this may happen, it can nevertheless serve as a powerful trump card that can be played by the President's "Our Ukraine" bloc in any coalition negotiations.

Template:Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2006

World reaction

According to Arabic newsmedia Aljazeera, Party of the regions has alleged that the general elections have been marred by irregularities and poor organisation as the first exit polls came in. But while acknowledging "some organisational problems", most other parties and Western observers have given the vote a largely clean bill of health.

Russian newspaper Izvestia predicts that Ukraine can expect more political instability and worsening economic situation.

According to Russian Gazeta.ru, Tymoshenko, Yushenko and the Socialists can form a coalition. Yulia Tymoshenko is sure she will become a new PM. Yushchenko and Georgian President Saakishvili already congratulated her with victory. ,,

According to Russian Rian, Tymoshenko promises to reconsider the Russian-Ukrainian gas deal.

Washington Post informed that Yushchenko's party was beaten into a humiliating third place in parliamentary elections as the pro-Russian party of the man he defeated for the presidency 16 months ago appeared headed for a clear victory, according to exit polls. The Party of Regions, led by Viktor Yanukovych, who was defeated by Yushchenko in 2004 following massive street protests known as the Orange Revolution, secured a commanding 33.3 percent of the vote, according to one poll. A second exit poll gave his party 27.5 percent.

On March 27, Arabic Aljazeera reported that Yulia Tymoshenko, the former PM, has scored a triumph in parliamentary elections with her own bloc coming second and placing her in a position to form a coalition government. Viktor Yanukovich's pro-Russian Regions party won the most seats, but Tymoshenko emerged as a rejuvenated political figure, saying that "Orange Revolution" liberals could close ranks to keep the pro-Russian party in opposition. The outcome was a double humiliation for Viktor Yushchenko, the president, who defeated Yanukovich in a presidential poll re-run after December's 2004 street protests, and later fell out with Tymoshenko, his former Orange Revolution comrade.

According to Forbes.com, Tymoshenko urged her estranged Orange Revolution allies to form a united front against their old pro-Russian nemesis, who was leading in early results from a weekend parliamentary election. Proposed coalition talks, which were supposed to get under way Monday, were delayed indefinitely.

According to Russian online media Lenta.ru, activists of Vitrenko's party erected tents and started boycotting the premises of Ukrainian Central Election Commission in protest of alleged violations. . According to Interfax-Ukraine, the tents are mostly empty.

Parties and electoral blocs registered

In all, the record number of 45 parties registered for the election, with only 5 of them have obtained the minimum 3% quota required to elect representatives to the Ukrainian parliament. Seats in the Verkhovna Rada are allocated among those parties obtaining the 3% quota according to the largest remainder method of seat allocation, using the Hare quota. Each Party meeting the 3% quota is entitled to appoint one representative for every 1/450 (approximately 0.22%) of the total vote allocated to all parties meeting the 3% threshold, with remining seats being awarded to the parties with the largest remaining fractions of 1/450 of the total vote allocated to all parties meeting the 3% threshold.

Name of the party or electoral bloc (number of candidates):

(Parties or blocs which have obtained at least 3% of the vote are in bold)

  • Bloc NDP (376)
  • Party "Viche" (58)
  • Social Christian Party (36)
  • Ukrainian Conservative Party (31)
  • Party of Pensioners of Ukraine (93)
  • Political party "Forwards, Ukraine!" (77)
  • "Electoral bloc "State - Labor Union" (263)
    • All-Ukrainian Party of Laborious
    • Political Party "State"
  • Electoral bloc of political parties "FOR UNION" (83)
    • Party "Socialist Ukraine"
    • Party "Union"
    • Political Party "Homeland"
    • Slavic Party
  • Party "Renassainse" (86)
  • Political Party "Working Ukraine" (20)
  • Ukrainian Party "Green Planet" (28)
  • Electoral Bloc "Power to the People" (173)
    • All-Ukrainian Party of Spirituality and Partiotism
    • All-Ukrainian Chernobyl People's Party "For Wellfare and Social Protection of the People"
    • Party of Protection of Pensioners of Ukraine
  • All-Ukrainian Party "New Force" (185)
  • "Civil Bloc PORA-PRP" (244)
  • Liberal Party of Ukraine (43)
  • Political Party of Ukraine "Party of PUTIN's Politics" (162)
  • Social Ecological Party "Union. Chernobyl. Ukraine." (54)
  • Bloc "Patriots of Ukraine" (99)
    • Patriotic Party of Ukraine
    • Ukrainian National Conservative Party
  • "Yuriy Karmazin Bloc" (59)
    • All-Ukrainian Party of Peace and Unity
    • Party of Defenders of Homeland
    • Party "National Democratic Union "Ukraine"
  • Party of Patriotic Forces of Ukraine (103)
  • Political Party "Party of Ecological Rescue "EKO+25%" (140)
  • Political Party Third Force (208)
  • Ukrainian People's Assembly (22)
  • All-Ukrainian Union "Freedom" (109)
  • Peasant Party of Ukraine (65)
  • Bloc of Partyless "Sun" (129)
  • Ukrainian Party of Honor, Combating Corruption, and Organized Crime (44)

Exit-polls

National exit poll 2006 Exit-poll Ukrainian sociology service Exit-poll "FOM-Ukraine"

Source: Korrespondent.net

Polls before the election day

According to earlier polls, front-runners are Party of Regions on 34%, Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc on 24%, as well as President Yushchenko's People's Union Our Ukraine.

Two other political forces that are virtually assured to pass a 3% barrier are the Socialist Party of Ukraine headed by Oleksander Moroz and the bloc of the current Speaker of Verkhovna Rada, Volodymyr Lytvyn (based on his former Agrarian Party of Ukraine renamed to the People's Party).

The Communist Party of Ukraine, which has progressively received less and less votes with each election (25% in 1998, 20% in 2002), is expected to continue their decline in voter support.

Whilst some parties have nominated over 400 candidates, it is unlikely that any single Party will elect over 200 members. In order to form a Government, under Ukraine's constitution, parties will need to form a coalition with two or more voting blocks within the first month following the declaration of the polls.

Razumkov Centre Poll

Each 2 weeks Razumkov Centre holds a respresentative national survey.

Table 1 shows the results for the parties likely to pass the three percent threshold.

Graph showing latest poll #3,Jan(2)by Razumkov published Feb 2006
Table 1: Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2006, Survey
Party or electoral bloc Nov. 2005 Jan. 2006 (1) Jan. 2006 (2)
Party of Regions 17.5% 24.7% 27.4%
Bloc "Our Ukraine" 13.5% 15.4% 16.9%
Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 12.4% 12.0% 12.7%
Socialist Party of Ukraine 5.6% 4.6% 6.3%
Communist Party of Ukraine 5.8% 4.6% 6.2%
Lytvyn's People's Bloc 3.3% 3.0% 3.4%
Nataliya Vitrenko Bloc "People's Opposition" 2.6% 2.5% 1.8%
Other 5.3% 7.7% 7.4%
Against all 6.7% 3.9% 4.1%
Will not vote 6.4% 2.5% 3.1%
Does not know/no opinion 20.9% 19.1% 10.5%
Not answered - - 0.2%
Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
number of respondents 1993 2290 2016
precision (p-value) 2.3% 2.1% 2.3%

The latest Razumkov poll shows a consolidation of voter opinion and if the results of the poll are a true indication of voter intention the voter particpation rate will be above 90% of registered voters. Voting in Ukraine is not compulsory. Votes below the 3% threshhold are discarded which increases the proportional share of seats allocated to the remaining party/blocs. There is still 10.5% of voters undecided.

Kiev Institute of Sociology Poll

Kiev International Institute of Sociology presented the latest poll on February 9 based on a survey during 20-27 of January.

Table 2 shows the Kiev International Institute of Sociology poll results for the parties likely to pass the three percent threshold.

Graph showing poll results by Kiev International Institute of Sociology published Feb 2006
Regional division used by KIIS
Table 2: Ukrainian parliamentary election, January 2006, Survey
Party or electoral bloc Ukraine West Center South East
Party of Regions 29.9% 5.0% 8.5% 43.5% 68.1%
Bloc "Our Ukraine" 18.5% 38.4% 23.4% 9.6% 2.3%
Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 10.4% 16.6% 16.6% 5.3% 2.0%
Socialist Party of Ukraine 4.0% 2.1% 8.9% 2.0% 1.5%
Communist Party of Ukraine 4.5% 0.9% 4.3% 6.5% 6.0%
Lytvyn's People's Bloc 2.6% 1.8% 3.8% 3.7% 0.4%
Nataliya Vitrenko Bloc "People's Opposition" 1.3% 0.7% 0.3% 2.5% 1.8%
Civic Bloc "Pora" 0.7% 1.9% 0.3% 0.7% 0.2%
Greens Party 0.6% 0.3% 1.0% 0.6% 0.2%
Ukrainian People's Bloc of Kostenko and Plyusch 0.5% 1.1% 0.7% 0.2% 0.0%
Opposition Bloc "Ne Tak" 0.5% 0.6% 0.2% 0.7% 0.7%
Other (less than 0.4% each) 3.0% 1.6% 4.1% 3.6% 1.9%
Undecided 13.5% 20.5% 13.7% 12.6% 7.3%
Against all 5.7% 4.2% 10.2% 3.3% 4.0%
Does not vote 4.3% 4.3% 4.0% 5.2% 3.6%
Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

The map to the right shows the non administrative regional division used by KIIS: The Western region (orange) comprises the eight oblasts of the west - Volyn, Rivne, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi, Transcarpathia, and Chernivtsi oblasts; the Central region (yellow) is made up by Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad, Cherkasy, Poltava, Sumy, Chernihiv and Kiev oblasts as well as the city of Kiev; the Southern region (light blue) consists of Dnipropetrovsk, Odessa, Mykolayiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia oblasts, the Autonomus Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol; the Eastern region (dark blue) includes Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts

References

  1. Razumkov Centre: 21 листопада 2005 Рейтинг політичних партій України (Центр ім.О. Разумков) (Conducted 3-13 November 2005, published 21 november 2005, Ukrainian only, edited)
  2. Razumkov Centre: 20 січня 2006 Електоральні рейтинги партій і блоків (Центр ім.О. Разумков) (Conducted 12-17 January 2006, published 20 January, Ukrainian only, edited)
  3. Razumkov Centre: 8 лютого 2006 Наміри голосування на виборах до Верховної Ради України та ідеологічні орієнтації громадян (Центр ім.О. Разумков) (Conducted 26-31 January 2006, published 8 February, Ukrainian only, edited)
  4. The November survey included Vitrenko's Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine. In January it was replaced with Nataliya Vitrenko Bloc "People's Opposition", which also includes the Party "Rus'-Ukrainian Union" (RUS')
  5. Kiev International Institute of Sociology:Report Documentation Link

See also

External links

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