elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); note - a special repeat runoff presidential election between Viktor YUSHCHENKO and Viktor YANUKOVYCH took place on 26 December 2004 after the earlier 21 November 2004 contest - won by YANUKOVYCH - was invalidated by the Ukrainian Supreme Court because of widespread and significant violations; under constitutional reforms that went into effect 1 January 2006, the majority in parliament takes the lead in naming the prime minister
election results: Viktor YUSHCHENKO elected president; percent of vote - Viktor YUSHCHENKO 52%, Viktor YANUKOVYCH 44.2%
Legislative branch:
unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; members allocated on a proportional basis to those parties that gain 3% or more of the national electoral vote; serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 30 September 2007 (next to be held in 2012)
election results: percent of vote by party/bloc - Party of Regions 34.4%, Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 30.7%, Our Ukraine-People's Self Defense 14.2%, CPU 5.4%, Lytvyn bloc 4%, other parties 11.3%; seats by party/bloc - Party of Regions 175, Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 156, Our Ukraine-People's Self Defense 72, CPU 27, Lytvyn bloc 20
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court; Constitutional Court
Political parties and leaders:
Christian Democratic Union [Volodymyr STRETOVYCH]; Communist Party
of Ukraine or CPU [Petro SYMONENKO]; European Party of Ukraine
[Mykola KATERYNCHUK]; Fatherland Party (Batkivshchyna) [Yuliya
TYMOSHENKO]; Forward Ukraine! [Viktor MUSIYAKA]; Labor Party of
Ukraine [Mykola SYROTA]; Our Ukraine [Viktor YUSHCHENKO]; Party of
Industrialists and Entrepreneurs [Anatoliy KINAKH]; Party of the
Defenders of the Fatherland [Yuriy Karmazin]; People's Movement of
Ukraine (Rukh) [Borys TARASYUK]; People's Party [Volodymyr LYTVYN];
Peoples' Self-Defense [Yuriy LUTSENKO]; PORA! (It's Time!) party
[Vladyslav KASKIV]; Progressive Socialist Party [Natalya VITRENKO];
Reforms and Order Party [Viktor PYNZENYK]; Party of Regions [Viktor
YANUKOVYCH]; Sobor [Anatoliy MATVIYENKO]; Social Democratic Party
[Yevhen KORNICHUK]; Social Democratic Party (United) or SDPU(o)
[Yuriy ZAHORODNIY]; Socialist Party of Ukraine or SPU [Oleksandr
MOROZ]; Ukrainian People's Party [Yuriy KOSTENKO]; United Center
[Ihor Krill]; Viche [Inna BOHOSLOVSKA]