Political Decisions in Ukraine - Essay Example

Most of the decisions political decisions taken in Ukraine seem to be like the decisions of an emperor rather than a democratic country.
“In November 2004, fraudulent presidential elections in Ukraine touched off seventeen days of mass protests whose goal was to overturn the official result” (Regina Smyth) Though the elections were held appropriately, the agitations started to begin against the legally elected prime minister which is extraordinary when we compare the elections of a democratic country. Since the Ukrainian people were unaware of the principles of democracy, because of the extended communist rule before, the public began to start agitations against even an elected government.

Ukraine has a parliamentary-presidential system of government with separate executive, judicial, and legislative branches. Ukraine held parliamentary and local elections on March 26, 2006. International observers noted that the conduct of the Rada election was in line with international standards for democratic elections, making this the most free and fair in Ukraine's history On April 3, 2007, On April 3, 2007; President Yushchenko dissolved the Supreme Rada and called for preterm elections. Months of political stalemate followed, with the Anti-Crisis Coalition continuing to hold Rada sessions, even after opposition parties Our Ukraine and BYuT resigned their seats and deprived the parliament of a constitutional quorum. On May 27, Yushchenko, Yanukovych, and Rada Speaker Moroz reached a political agreement on new elections, which were held on September 30, 2007. (Ukraine)

Even though the elections were conducted appropriately, President has got other ideas that are still unknown to the public. In a democratic setup mostly only after the prime minister loses the confidence of the parliament, the president will dissolve the parliament if no other options are available. But in Ukraine’s case, the political observers looked suspiciously over the motives of the president in dissolving the parliament. Reports showed that the president and the parliament (Rada) speaker have taken the decisions of conducting elections. In most other democratic countries there will be an election commission that will have control of general elections. But in Ukraine, most of the political decisions seem to be vested on the shoulders of the president.

The general public does not have much idea about what’s going on in Ukraine. Everybody was waiting for the verdict from the court regarding the election. “Viktor Yanukovych, the Prime Minister, warned on a visit to Strasbourg yesterday that if the court declared the decree unconstitutional, his party could seek President Viktor Yushchenko's impeachment. Lyudmyla Stepenenko, a 24-year-old psychologist, carried a flag of Mr. Yanu-kovych's coalition partner, the Socialists, and said she came to the courthouse to protest against new elections, which she called a waste of money. On the other side of the police line, Oleh Sokha, a 20-year-old student from western Ukraine, was there to support the presidential order."We are against the parliament which betrayed its people," he said. (Natasha Lisova in Kyiv, 2007)

Conclusion

Ukrainian politics is marred by individual interests rather than the country’s interests. The people of Ukraine do not have much idea about the principles of democracy. In a parliamentary democracy, legislature, judiciary, and executive should function together for the smooth functioning of the ruling system. “As it is symptomatic for the former Soviet states, the identification of the right person for a certain question in Ukraine is a crucial problem, because of the limited significance of the institutions.” (Iris Kempe) Read More