2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election

2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election

26 March 2006

All 450 seats to the Verkhovna Rada
226 seats needed for a majority
Turnout67.55% ( 1.72 pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Viktor Yanukovych Yulia Tymoshenko Yuriy Yekhanurov
Party Party of Regions Tymoshenko Bloc Our Ukraine Bloc
Leader since 19 April 2003 9 February 2001 25 November 2005
Last election 36 seats 22 seats, 7.54% 113 seats, 24.49%
Seats won 186 129 81
Seat change 150 107 32
Popular vote 8,148,745 5,652,876 3,539,140
Percentage 32.78% 22.75% 14.24%
Swing 15.21% 10.05%

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Oleksandr Moroz Petro Symonenko
Party SPU KPU
Leader since 26 October 1991 19 June 1993
Last election 23 seats, 7.14% 64 seats, 20.76%
Seats won 33 21
Seat change 10 43
Popular vote 1,444,224 929,591
Percentage 5.81% 3.74%
Swing 1.33% 17.02%

Results by electoral district

Prime Minister before election

Yuriy Yekhanurov
Our Ukraine Bloc

Elected Prime Minister

Viktor Yanukovych
Party of Regions

Parliamentary elections were held in Ukraine on 26 March 2006. Election campaigning officially began on 7 July 2005. Between November 26 and 31 December 2005, party lists of candidates were formed.

The election to the Ukrainian parliament, Verkhovna Rada, was held according to the party-list proportional election system—that is, in a single nationwide electoral district with votes being allocated to the political parties or election blocs rather than to individual candidates. In the previous parliamentary elections half of parliamentary representatives (deputies) were elected on proportional basis, while the other half were elected in single-mandate constituencies.

Following the Orange Revolution and the 2004 presidential elections in December 2004, Ukrainian parliament adopted significant changes (amendments) to the Constitution of Ukraine by introducing concepts of political coalition, coalition government, imperative mandate as well as transferred some power from the President to the parliament, making Ukraine a parliamentary-presidential democracy. Those amendments were to enter into force on 1 January 2006. The new constitutional amendment also abolished single member-districts and replacing them with an increased multi-member proportional representation. According to the election law and the system adopted, the political parties or election blocs need to collect at least 3% of the national vote in order to gain seats in parliament.