Ukrainian Political System - Overview
Ukraine is a unitary, sovereign and independent, democratic, social and legal state, a parliamentary-presidential republic. The people are the bearer of sovereignty and the only source of power in Ukraine.
The people exercise power directly and through state authorities and local self-government bodies. The power in Ukraine is carried out according to the principle of its division into legislative, executive and judicial.
The executive power in the country belongs to the Cabinet of Ministers, and the legislative power - to the parliament (the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine). The supreme body of the judiciary in Ukraine is the Supreme Court of Ukraine.
The President of Ukraine can influence the work of all three branches of power. According to the Constitution of Ukraine, the President must stop any of their actions that violate the Constitution.
Constitution of Ukraine
Shortly after the proclamation of Ukraine’s independence, as a result of the 1991 referendum, a parliamentary commission was organized in Ukraine to draft a new constitution.
June 28, 1996, with the adoption of the new democratic constitution, a multi-party political system (pluralism) and the legally declared fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens of Ukraine, as well as the rights of national minorities of the country, were introduced.
Various ethnic groups of Ukraine are guaranteed the right to receive education in their native language, to develop cultural life, and to use national languages ??in everyday life. According to the Constitution, the state language of the country is Ukrainian.
In the Crimea and some regions of Eastern Ukraine, in everyday life and in official treatment, the Russian language predominates. The Constitution also guarantees freedom of religion.
Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is the only legislative body of state power in Ukraine, which has a collegiate structure and consists of 450 people’s deputies of Ukraine elected for a period of 5 years on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot.
The Verkhovna Rada is the only legislative body authorized to pass laws in Ukraine. The powers of the Verkhovna Rada are realized by joint activity of people’s deputies of Ukraine at the sessions of the Verkhovna Rada. The Verkhovna Rada ratifies international agreements and approves the budget.
The powers of people’s deputies of Ukraine are determined by the Constitution and laws of Ukraine. People’s deputies of Ukraine can voluntarily unite in factions, provided that each of them includes at least 15 deputies.
As of January 18, 2017, there were 352 officially registered political parties in Ukraine. However, most of them are small and not very popular in the broad strata of society and are not able to win elections independently. Therefore, in order to obtain a larger number of votes in the parliamentary elections, small parties are often united into elective blocs.
Executive Power in Ukraine
The President of Ukraine is elected by popular vote for a five-year term. On the proposal of the President, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine appoints the Prime Minister of Ukraine, other members of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
The President of Ukraine is the guarantor of state sovereignty, territorial integrity of Ukraine, observance of the Constitution of Ukraine, human and citizen rights and freedoms.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is the supreme body of executive power of Ukraine. It is responsible to the President of Ukraine and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is under the control and accountable to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine within the limits provided by the Constitution of Ukraine.
