Legislative Election in Ukraine (2019)

The next elections to the Verkhovna Rada, in accordance with the law, were to be held on October 27, 2019, but after the victory of Vladimir Zelensky in the presidential elections in March-April 2019, experts noted that the Verkhovna Rada that he inherited would almost certainly be it is hostile to him: almost all the political forces represented in it are natural competitors for Zelensky in the upcoming parliamentary elections and will not allow him to consolidate the success achieved in the presidential race ^[3] . In this situation, as Zelensky himself noted between the two rounds of the presidential election, the dissolution of the Rada could bring benefits to his supporters ^{[4] [5]} .

On May 17, the Popular Front faction announced its withdrawal from the European Ukraine parliamentary coalition. Verkhovna Rada Chairman Andrei Parubiy announced the termination of the coalition, which, according to experts, automatically blocked the possibility of early dissolution of the parliament ^{[Comm 1]} : in accordance with the country's constitution, after the announcement of the termination of the existing coalition, deputies have 30 days to form a new majority, at the same time, the president can prematurely terminate the powers of parliament if a new coalition in the Verkhovna Rada is not formed within a month; however, by law, parliament cannot be dissolved if less than six months remain before the end of its term of office. Thus, it was clear that 30 days after May 17, the Rada would not be able to dissolve, since there would be less than six months left before the end of its term of office (the parliament was elected for a five-year term, the Rada of the VIII convocation began its work on November 27, 2014, so it could be dissolved was no later than May 27, 2019) ^{[6] [7] [8]} .

However, according to Zelensky, in fact, the coalition ceased to exist in 2016, that is, 30 days provided by law for the formation of a new majority have long passed.

On May 20, during his inauguration, Vladimir Zelensky announced the dissolution of the Verkhovna Rada of the VIII convocation ^[9] , and on May 21 issued a corresponding decree and scheduled early parliamentary elections for July 21. As the president said at a meeting with leaders of parliamentary factions, “ The main argument for the dissolution of the Verkhovna Rada is the very low confidence of Ukrainian citizens in this organization - 4%. This is an assessment of the work of parliament and the most powerful argument for the termination of its powers ... The legal basis for dissolution: since 2016, there has not been a coalition ” ^{[10] [11] [12]} .

Volodymyr Zelensky asked the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Andriy Parubiy to convene an extraordinary plenary meeting of the parliament and include on the agenda the consideration of amendments to the laws of Ukraine “On the election of Ukrainian deputies” (providing for the abolition of the majority system and lowering the threshold of passage to 3%) and "On public procurement."

On May 22, opening an extraordinary meeting of the parliament, Paruby said that Zelensky’s decree on its dissolution was contrary to the current Constitution and would be challenged by the Constitutional Court , but the Verkhovna Rada itself could not cancel it ^{[13] [14]} .

The parliament refused to consider the bill on changing the election system proposed by Vladimir Zelensky, and this completed its work ^[15] . In this regard, early elections to the Verkhovna Rada will be held according to the current electoral system - mixed with majority districts and proportional lists and a 5% passing barrier.

Vladimir Zelensky in his Facebook account responded to Rada’s refusal to consider his bill on parliamentary elections: “ Old politicians have chosen the old system, because only it gives them a chance to extend their political lives .” The president called on Ukrainians to choose politicians who can “change the country not in words but in action” ^[16] .

On May 24, the Constitutional Court received a submission from 62 deputies regarding compliance with the Constitution of Ukraine of a presidential decree on the dissolution of the Verkhovna Rada. The president called the absence of a coalition the basis for dissolution, which is mandatory by law for the unification of the majority of deputies responsible for forming a government. However, the law does not specify how to determine the presence or absence of a coalition. It was this uncertainty that became the reason for going to court ^[17] .

On the eve of the first meeting of the Constitutional Court on this issue, Zelensky distributed a video message in social networks in which he stated that he was confident in his legal position, but the main thing was that dissolution was happy - this is a demand of the people of Ukraine ^[18] .

Regardless of the decision of the Constitutional Court, the election campaign that began, according to Ukrainian law, could not be canceled or suspended ^[17] .

The head of the Batkivshchyna party, Yulia Tymoshenko, urged Vladimir Zelensky to ignore the decision of the Constitutional Court if he does not agree with him ^[17] .

The Constitutional Court began consideration of the deputy’s request on June 11, and on June 19 confirmed the legality of the decree on the dissolution of parliament. The Constitutional Court noted that a “constitutional conflict” arose between the president and parliament over the dissolution. This conflict, in the opinion of the Constitutional Court, has no legal solution. Therefore, the court ruled that the resolution of the conflict by the people of Ukraine “by holding early elections meets the requirements of the second part of Article 5 of the Constitution of Ukraine” ^{[19] [20]} .

On May 24, on its official page on Facebook, the Central Election Commission of Ukraine published the approved calendar plan of the main organizational measures for the preparation and conduct of early elections of people's deputies of Ukraine ^[21] . The head of the CEC Tatyana Slipachuk announced the start of a new election campaign: “We will ensure transparent and legitimate parliamentary elections. In accordance with the current legislation, there is no reason to stop preparations for the election. The election process is irreversible ” ^[22] .

• The leader of the UDAR party, Vitali Klitschko, said that his party intends to nominate candidates only in majoritarian constituencies. Klitschko noted that his attempts to join forces with other political forces were unsuccessful. Vitaliy himself intends to continue his work as mayor of Kiev ^[23] .
• The parties "National Corps" , "Freedom" , "Right Sector" , veteran and public organizations participated in early parliamentary elections "United Nationalist Bloc" ^[24] . An important role in the unification of nationalists was played by the main sponsor of Freedom, Igor Krivetsky ^[25] .
• The united bloc also participated in the elections of the parties “Opposition Bloc”, “Party for Peace and Development”, “Ours”, “Renaissance” and “Trust in Business” ^{[26] [27]} .
• The Popular Front , White Church, and the United Center parties nominated candidates only in single-mandate constituencies. Some members of the Popular Front party were nominated according to the lists of the European Solidarity and Ukrainian Groysman Strategy parties.

On June 26, the Central Election Commission determined the order of political parties on the ballot paper for voting in the nationwide multi-member constituency ^[28] .

On June 30, the Movement of New Forces party was added to the ballot ^[29] . Shortly before the election, party leader Mikheil Saakashvili announced his refusal to participate in the elections.

A total of 22 batches were included in the bulletin:

По итогам выборов Рада значительно обновилась, большинство избранных депутатов — впервые в парламенте. Из шести парламентских фракций VIII созыва в Раде остались только две: «Батькивщина» Юлии Тимошенко и «Европейская солидарность» Петра Порошенко (при этом партия Порошенко после поражения её лидера на президентских выборах сменила название). Не вошли в парламент «Народный фронт» Арсения Яценюка, который получил по итогам прошлых выборов 22,14 % голосов, «Самопомощь», набравшая в 2014 году 10,97 % голосов, а также Радикальная партия Олега Ляшко (7,44 %). Впервые в истории независимой Украины одна партия получила право самостоятельно сформировать правительство. Для формирования правительства нужна поддержка 226 депутатов, для внесения изменений в Конституцию — 300 ^[32] .

Прошедшие выборы показали, что радикальные националистические силы на Украине продолжают терять популярность. Проходной барьер не смогло преодолеть Всеукраинское объединение «Свобода» (2,23 % голосов), в первой пятёрке списка которой, кроме прочих, были основатель и первый командир батальона «Азов» Андрей Билецкий, бывший лидер «Правого сектора» Дмитрий Ярош и действующий лидер «Правого сектора» Андрей Тарасенко ^[32] .

Электоральная карта Украины традиционно делилась на запад и восток: население западных областей обычно поддерживали кандидатов, выступающих с националистических и проевропейских позиций, тогда как жители восточных регионов поддерживали сближение с Россией. На нынешних парламентских выборах партия Зеленского победила в большинстве областей и запада, и востока. На востоке на подконтрольных Украине частях Донецкой и Луганской областей с серьёзным перевесом (более 20 %) победила «Оппозиционная платформа — За жизнь». На западе «Слуга народа» проиграла только во Львовской области, менее чем на 4 % отстав от партии «Голос», лидером которой является Святослав Вакарчук, уроженец соседней Закарпатской области. По мнению экспертов, регионы Украины объединило протестное голосование. Как отметил украинский политолог Руслан Бортник, «на президентских выборах украинцы голосовали против Порошенко и действующей власти, на парламентских — против всего политического истеблишмента; это голосование объединило север, юг и центр, а также в какой-то мере Западный Донбасс и восточную часть Западной Украины» ^[32] .

Электоральная поддержка партий

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  Слуга народа

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  Оппозиционная платформа — За жизнь

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  Батькивщина

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  Европейская солидарность

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  Vote