VERKHOVNA RADA

'Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine' (; English: ''Supreme Council'') is the official name of Ukraine's unicameral parliament.
The national Verkhovna Rada should not be confused with the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea, the legislature of Ukraine's Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

Contents

Name

History

Meeting place

Mission and authority

Composition

Speakers and vice-speakers

Chairmen

Elections

Planned election

Latest election

Previous elections

See also

External links

Name

The name as a whole originates from a Soviet political tradition where a vertical system of ''Soviets'' (councils, ''rady'') existed.
''Verkhovna'', an adjective of feminine gender, is a neologism of the second quarter of the 20th century. It was borrowed from Russian and means "supreme". However, few native speakers will now recognize its foreign origin.
''Rada'', a noun of feminine gender, is an authentic Ukrainian word meaning "council", which has common root with Latin ''ratio''. Since at least Middle Ages it signifies a group of individuals who gathered for the purpose of electing an official or enacting legislation.

History

The first convocation of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (Ukrainian SSR) assembled for the first session in 1938.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukrainian SSR of the twelfth convocation proclaimed the state sovereignty of Ukraine on July 16, 1990, and declared Ukraine's independence and the creation of the Ukrainian State on August 24, 1991, at approximately 6pm local time.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the thirteenth convocation adopted the Constitution of Ukraine on June 28, 1996, at approximately 9am local time.
The parliament of the fourteenth convocation officially changed the numbering of the convocations proclaiming itself the Verkhovna Rada of the ''third'' convocation.
The Verkhovna Rada of the fourth (fifteenth) convocation amended the Constitution on December 8, 2004.

Meeting place

Main articles: Verkhovna Rada building

The parliament meets in a neo-classical building on Kiev's Hrushevskoho St., which adjoins a picturesque park and the rastrelliesque 18th century Mariyinsky Palace (the ceremonial residence of the President).

Mission and authority

The Verkhovna Rada is the sole body of legislative power in Ukraine. The parliament determines the principles of domestic and foreign policy, introduces amendments to the constitution of Ukraine, adopts laws, approves the state budget, designates elections of the President of Ukraine, impeaches the president, declares war and peace, gives consent to the appointment of the Prime Minister of Ukraine, appoints or approves appointment of certain officials, appoints one-third of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, elects judges for permanent terms, ratifies and denounces international treaties, and exercises certain control functions.

Composition

The Verkhovna Rada is a unicameral legislature with 450 deputies (Ukrainian singular: ''народний депутат, narodnyy deputat'') elected on the basis of equal and direct universal suffrage through a secret ballot.
The deputies possess a full personal legal immunity during the term of office. On the one hand, this may help certain individuals avoid criminal responsibility; on the other hand, the immunity serves as a guarantee for the existence of political opposition. In cases of egregious malfeasance, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine or the Head of the Supreme Court of Ukraine can request that a deputy's immunity be revoked.
There are 5 fractions now:
Fraction of the Party of Regions - 186 deputies
Fraction of the Party of Socialists - 30 deputies
Fraction of the Julia Timoshenko's Block - 24 deputies
Fraction of the Party of Communists - 21 deputies
Fraction of the "Our Ukraine" Block - 18 deputies
Deputes, who is not a member of the fraction (was expelled from their fractions) - 9 deputies
There are 288 deputies currently elected. Other 162 resigned in order to give the President right to dissolve Rada.
Verhovna Rada can work if no less than 300 deputies are elected.

Speakers and vice-speakers

The parliament elects from among its ranks the Chairman (Speaker, Ukrainian: ''Голова Верховної Ради''), the First Deputy Chairman, and the Deputy Chairman.
Before the Chairman of a newly convoced Rada is elected, parliamentary meetings are presided over by members of a temporary presidium of the first session (). The temporary presidium is composed of five deputies, representing four largest parliamentary fractions plus the chairman of a preparatory deputy group of the first parliamentary session, however the Rada may enact an ad hoc deviation from this composition rule.
The Chairman presides at parliamentary meetings, signs bills and sends them to the President for promulgation, signs and promulgates parliamentary acts (other than bills), organises staff work, etc. The Constitution also authorizes the Chairman to sign into law and promulgate bills vetoed by the President when the Rada by a two-thirds majority overcomes the veto, but the President still refuses to promulgate the law.
In case the post of the President of Ukraine becomes vacant, the Chairman of the Rada becomes acting head of state with limited authority. For instance, the acting president cannot disband the parliament, appoint or submit for parliamentary approval candidates for many key official posts, grant military ranks or state orders, or exercise the right of pardon. The Constitution and Ukrainian legislation contain no provisions for presidential succession in case the posts of President and Chairman of the Rada are both vacant.

Chairmen

The following table includes the Chairmen of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (since 1991), the Chairmen of Supreme Soviet of Ukrainian SSR (1990-1991, 1938), and the Chairmen of Presidium of Supreme Soviet of Ukrainian SSR (1938-1990).

English Name	Ukrainian Name	Date Elected	Date Resigned	Convocation No.	Notes
Oleksandr Moroz	Олександр Олександрович Мороз	July 6, 2006		5 (16)
Volodymyr Lytvyn	Володимир Михайлович Литвин	May 28, 2002	May 25, 2006	4 (15)
Ivan Plyushch	Іван Степанович Плющ	February 1, 2000	May 14, 2002	3 (14)
Oleksandr Tkachenko	Олександр Миколайович Ткаченко	July 7, 1998	January 21, 2000	3 (14)	Elected after a 2-month long "speakeriade". Dismissed on ground of violating parliamentary session regulations
Oleksandr Moroz	Олександр Олександрович Мороз	May 18, 1994	May 12, 1998	2 (13)
Ivan Plyushch	Іван Степанович Плющ	December 5, 1991	May 11, 1994	1 (12)
Leonid Kravchuk	Леонід Макарович Кравчук	July 23, 1990	December 5, 1991	1 (12)	Resigned as a result of election as President
Volodymyr Ivashko	Володимир Антонович Івашко	June 4, 1990	July 9, 1990	1 (12)	Resigned as a result of election to Politburo of CPSU
Valentyna Shevchenko	Валентина Семенівна Шевченко	November 22, 1984	June 4, 1990
Oleksiy Vatchenko	Олексій Федосійович Ватченко	June 24, 1976	November 22, 1984
Ivan Grushetsky	Іван Самойлович Грушецький	July 28, 1972	June 24, 1976
Oleksandr Liashko	Олександр Павлович Ляшко	June 10, 1969	June 1972
Demyan Korotchenko	Дем’ян Сергійович Коротченко	July 18, 1954	April 7, 1969
Mykhailo Grechukha	Михайло Сергійович Гречуха	July, 1939	January 18, 1954
Leonid Korniyets	Леонід Романович Корнієць	July 27, 1938	July, 1939
Mykhailo Burmystenko	Михайло Олексійович Бурмистенко	July 25, 1938	July 27, 1938

Elections

Dramatic political development of Ukraine has caused recurrent changes of the parliamentary electoral system. Each convocation of the Verkhovna Rada has been elected under a different set of laws (gradually evolving from the purely majoritarian scheme of the Soviet era to a purely proportional scheme, effective in 2006 under the transitional provisions of the constitutional amendments).
The priveous parliament was formed in 2002 according to a mixed majoritarian and proportional representation system. Under the election law of 2001 (as well as the previous electoral law of 1997), 225 of the Rada's seats were allocated on a proportional basis to those parties that gained 4% of the national vote in the parliamentary elections of 2002. The other 225 members were elected by popular vote in single-mandate constituencies.

Planned election

Main articles: Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2007

On April 2, 2007, Viktor Yushchenko, the President of Ukraine, dissolved parliament and signed the presidential decree ordering early parliamentary elections in Ukraine to be held on May 27, 2007, but later they were postponed to June 24, 2007. The Rada has called this decree unconstitutional, prevented funds allocation for elections and continued to function.
After more than 1/3 of deputes resigned and the President, Prime-Minister and Chairman reached an agreement the election was scheduled on September 30, 2007.

Latest election

Main articles: Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2006

Previous elections

★ Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2002

See also

★ Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union

★ Rada TV, video broadcasts of the Verkhovna Rada

External links

★ Official website of the Verkhovna Rada (With Ukraine's legislation database).