Politics of Ukraine
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Template:Politics of Ukraine Shortly after becoming independent in 1991, Ukraine named a parliamentary commission to prepare a new constitution, adopted a multi-party system, and adopted legislative guarantees of civil and political rights for national minorities. A new, democratic constitution was adopted on June 28, 1996, which mandates a pluralistic political system with protection of basic human rights and liberties.
Freedom of religion is guaranteed by law, although religious organizations are required to register with local authorities and with the central government. Minority rights are respected in accordance with a 1991 law guaranteeing ethnic minorities the right to schools and cultural facilities and the use of national languages in conducting personal business. According to the Ukrainian constitution, Ukrainian is the only official state language. However, in Crimea and some parts of eastern Ukraine--areas with substantial ethnic Russian minorities -- use of Russian is wide-spread in official business.
Freedom of speech and press are guaranteed by law, but authorities sometimes interfere with the news media through different forms of pressure. In particular, the failure of the government to conduct a thorough, credible, and transparent investigation into the 2000 disappearance and murder of independent journalist Georgiy Gongadze has had a negative effect on Ukraine's international image.
Ethnic tensions in Crimea during 1992 prompted a number of pro-Russian political organizations to advocate secession of Crimea and annexation to Russia. (Crimea was ceded to Ukraine in 1954 by First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev, in recognition of historic links and for economic convenience, to mark the 300th anniversary of Ukrainian union with Russia.) In July 1992, the Crimean and Ukrainian parliaments determined that Crimea would remain under Ukrainian jurisdiction while retaining significant cultural and economic autonomy.
Official labor unions have been grouped under the Federation of Labor Unions. A number of independent unions, which emerged during 1992, among them the Independent Union of Miners of Ukraine, have formed the Consultative Council of Free Labor Unions. While the right to strike is legally guaranteed, strikes based solely on political demands are prohibited.
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Presidential Elections Crisis of 2004
The Orange Revolution was a series of peaceful protests that resulted in the nullification of the results of the elections re-run on November 21, 2004. The Supreme Court of Ukraine ordered a repeat of the re-run to be held on December 26, 2004, and asked the law enforcement agencies to investigate cases of election fraud.
Political parties and leaders
Main article: List of political parties in Ukraine
The list of parties in approximate order of parliamentary membership representation is as follows:
- Viktor Yushchenko Bloc Our Ukraine ( "Honorary head" of the party Viktor Yushchenko)
- Communist Party of Ukraine(Petro Symonenko, first secretary)
- Party of Regions of Ukraine (Viktor Yanukovych, chairman)
- Socialist Party of Ukraine or SPU (Oleksandr Moroz, chairman)
- People's Agrarian Party of Ukraine (Volodymyr Lytvyn, chairman)
- United Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (Viktor Medvedchuk, chairman)
- Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc (Yuliya Tymoshenko, chairperson)
- People's Democratic Party (Valeriy Pustovoytenko, chairman)
- Working Ukraine (Ihor Sharov, chairman);
- People's Movement of Ukraine (Rukh) (Borys Tarasyuk, chairman)
- Reforms and Order Party (Viktor Pynzenyk, chairman)
- Sobor Party (Anatoliy Matviyenko, chairman)
- Ukrainian Popular Party (Yuriy Kostenko, chairman)
For the purpose of participating in partiamentary elections, Ukrainian parties can join in electoral blocks.
Other parties:
- Party of Greens of Ukraine (Vitaliy Kononov, chairman);
- Liberal Party (Ukraine) (Volodymyr Shcherban, chairman);
- Peasant Party of Ukraine (Serhiy Dovhan, chairman);
- Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine (Nataliya Vitrenko, chairperson);
- Apple Party (Viktor Chayka, chairman);
- note: and numerous smaller parties;
International organization participation
BSEC, CE, CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNMOT, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (applicant), Zangger Committee