1990 Ukrainian Supreme Soviet election

Background

In the wake of Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika, the Law on Elections – adopted on 27 October 1989 – included provisions for direct elections of individuals (as opposed to group representation of civic organizations), the need for alternative (non-Communist) candidates, the elimination of a requirement for nomination meetings, and other relatively democratic provisions. However, the elections were far from being free – as the Communist Party retained control on the media, exerted political influence, and had a large financial resource base.

Electoral system

The elections took place according to the majoritarian electoral system in 450 electoral regions. In electoral regions where no candidate obtained at least 50% of the vote, a second round of elections was held.

The number of seats in the Supreme Soviet was reduced from 650 to 450.

Campaign

A total of 2,999 candidates contested the 450 seats, with four constituencies having only one candidate.

During the election campaign, the self-titled "Democratic Bloc" was formed, which included the People's Movement of Ukraine (Rukh), the Helsinki Watch Committee of Ukraine, the Green Party of Ukraine, and many other organizations.

Results

In the first round 112 candidates were elected. A further 330 were elected in the second round, leaving eight seats vacant due to low voter turnout. Further rounds of voting in six constituencies were scheduled for 22 April.

The Communists obtained 331 seats in the Rada. The Democratic Bloc obtained 111 seats out of 442. Narodna Rada became the opposition bloc to the parliamentary majority and Ihor Yukhnovskyi was elected as the opposition group's leader.

Factions

• For a Soviet Sovereign Ukraine / "Group of 239" (Communist Party of Ukraine) – 239
• People's Council (People's Movement of Ukraine) – 125
• CPU Democratic platform (Party of Democratic Revival of Ukraine) – 41
• Democratic Party of Ukraine (Democratic Party of Ukraine) – 19
• Ukrainian Republican Party (Ukrainian Republican Party) – 12
• Unaffiliated members of parliament – 14

Aftermath

The first meeting of the Parliament took place on May 15, 1990. The Communist deputies elected Volodymyr Ivashko to serve as the Parliament Chairman, but on July 19, 1991 he chose to move to Moscow for the position of Deputy General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Ukrainian Communists were rapidly losing popularity; by July 1990 ninety-two of the deputies elected as Communists declared themselves as "Independents". The remaining 239 communist deputies formed a new majority group they called "For a Soviet Sovereign Ukraine", informally known as the "group of 239".

On 16 July 1990 this Parliament adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine. The Declaration was supported by 355 deputies.

On 18 July the "For a Soviet Sovereign Ukraine" group led by Oleksander Moroz elected Leonid Kravchuk as the Chairman of Parliament.

On 24 October 1990 the Parliament amended the 1978 Constitution of the Ukrainian SSR, in particular to exclude Article 6. Prior to the amendments, the supreme governing body of the Ukrainian SSR was the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Ukrainian SSR.

On 24 August 1991 the parliament declared Ukraine independent and called for a referendum on support for the Declaration of Independence. In the following days it also banned the Communist Party of Ukraine and nationalized its property (this ban was only theoretical since de facto the Communist elite continued to rule the country).

On 5 December 1991 Leonid Kravchuk surrendered his parliamentary duties to accept the presidency of an independent Ukraine. The post of Parliament Chairman was awarded to Ivan Plyushch.

After the banning of the Communist Party of Ukraine, remnants of its elected deputies (the "group of 239") joined other left-wing parties; most became independent politicians.

Statistics

The first convocation had eight sessions where 85 legal documents were submitted. Six of the legal projects were initiated by the President of Ukraine and 38 by the Cabinet of Ministers. The most productive sessions were the last two (the 7th and 8th) where 60 legal projects were submitted.

Government leaders

Below is a list of the Chairmen of the 1st Convocation of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

Prime minister

Note: an appointment to this office had little influence from the Verkhovna Rada until the constitutional reforms of 2004.

References

References

1. [[Andrew Wilson (historian). 0521574579
2. Subtelny, Orest. (2000). "Ukraine: A History". [[University of Toronto Press]].
3. link
4. link
5. Peter J. Potichnyj (1993) "The March 1990 Elections in Ukraine" in ''Ukrainian Past, Ukrainian Present'', pp123–133
6. (February 1, 2006). "Trends of independence: Elections in Ukraine". kandydat.com.ua.
7. Subtelny, p. 577.
8. [http://www.ukrweekly.com/old/archive/1991/359102.shtml Historic vote for independence] {{Webarchive. link. (2014-03-23 , ''[[The Ukrainian Weekly]]'' (1 September 1991))
9. link
10. {{Cite Ukrainian law. Verkhovna Rada law]]. (1990-10-24)
11. 1442610212 (page 722/723)
12. 9639241253 (page 109)
13. {{cite Ukrainian law. (1990-06-04)
14. {{cite Ukrainian law. (1990-07-23)
15. {{cite Ukrainian law. (1991-12-05)