The 2006 Parliamentary crisis in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

started in March 2006 as a result of inconclusive parliamentary elections, and ended on 3 August 2006 with

Viktor Yanukovych Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych ( uk, Віктор Федорович Янукович, ; ; born 9 July 1950) is a former politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 until he was removed from office in the Revolution of D ...

(as part of the Alliance of National Unity) being chosen as a

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

to replace

Yuriy Yekhanurov Yuriy Ivanovych Yekhanurov ( uk, Юрій Іванович Єхануров, ; born August 23, 1948) is a Ukrainian politician who was Prime Minister of Ukraine from 2005 to 2006 and Minister of Defense from 2007 to 2009. Background and professi ...

, who resigned right after the parliamentary elections.

History

Many speculated that

Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc ( uk, Блок Юлії Тимошенко, БЮТ; Blok Yuliyi Tymoshenko, BYuT) was the name of the bloc of political parties in Ukraine led by Yulia Tymoshenko since 2001. In November 2011, the participation of bloc ...

(BYuT) might form a coalition with Our Ukraine party and the

Socialist Party of Ukraine The Socialist Party of Ukraine ( uk, Соціалістична Партія України, translit=Sotsialistychna Partiia Ukrayiny, SPU) was a social democratic and democratic socialist political party in Ukraine. It was one of the oldest par ...

(SPU) to prevent the

Party of Regions The Party of Regions ( uk, Партія регіонів, Partiia rehioniv, ; russian: Партия регионов, Partiya regionov) was a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine formed in late 1997 that then grew to be the biggest party of U ...

from gaining power.

Yulia Tymoshenko Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko ( uk, Юлія Володимирівна Тимошенко, ; Hrihyan ();Ukraine leaders jostle for power

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

(27 March 2006) However, negotiations with Our Ukraine and SPU faced many difficulties as the various blocs scrapped over posts and engaged in counter-negotiations with other groupings. Apparently

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Viktor Yushchenko Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko ( uk, Віктор Андрійович Ющенко, ; born 23 February 1954) is a Ukrainian politician who was the third president of Ukraine from 23 January 2005 to 25 February 2010. As an informal leader of th ...

did not want Tymoshenko to become

.How Ukraine Became a Market Economy and Democracy
by Anders Åslund,

Peterson Institute for International Economics The Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE), known until 2006 as the Institute for International Economics (IIE), is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. It was founded by C. Fred Bergsten in 1981 and has been led by ...

, 2009, (page 214) Initially SPU's

Oleksandr Moroz Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Morozrussian: Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Моро́з, translit=Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Moroz (born 29 February 1944) is a Ukrainian politician. He was the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada twice, ...

wanted the post of

Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Голова Верховної Ради України, Holova Verkhovnoi Rady Ukrainy) is the presiding officer of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's unicameral parliament. The chairman presides ...

. On Wednesday 21 June 2006, the Ukrainian media reported that the three parties had finally reached a coalition agreement, which appeared to have ended nearly three months of political uncertainty. Tymoshenko's nomination and confirmation as new Prime Minister was expected to be straightforward. However, the nomination was preconditioned on an election of her long-term rival

Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko ( uk, Петро́ Олексі́йович Пороше́нко, ; born 26 September 1965) is a Ukrainian businessman and politician who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. Poroshenko se ...

from Our Ukraine as the speaker of the parliament. Tymoshenko stated that she would vote for any speaker from the coalition. Within a few days after the coalition agreement had been signed, it became clear that the coalition members mistrusted each other,Парламент почав працювати, але коаліції в ньому більше немає
День (7 July 2006) since they considered it to be a deviation from parliamentary procedures in order to hold a simultaneous vote on Poroshenko as the speaker and Tymoshenko as Prime Minister. The Party of Regions announced an ultimatum to the coalition, demanding that the parliamentary procedures be observed, asking membership in parliamentary committees to be allocated in proportion to seats held by each fraction, chairmanship in certain Parliamentary committees as well as Governorships in the administrative subdivisions won by the Party of Regions. The Party of Regions complained the coalition agreement deprived the Party of Regions and the communists of any representation in the executive and leadership in parliamentary committees while in the local regional councils won by the Party of Regions, the coalition parties were locked out of all committees as well.Opposition Blocks Ukrainian Parliament Session
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (27 June 2006 ) Members from the

blocked the parliament from Thursday, 29 June through Thursday, 6 July. Following a surprise nomination of Moroz as the Rada Chairman and his subsequent election late on 6 July with the support of the Party of Regions, the "Orange coalition" collapsed (Poroshenko had withdrawn his candidacy and had urged Moroz to do the same on 7 July). After the creation of a large coalition of majority (the so-called Alliance of National Unity), led by the former prime minister

and composed of the

Socialists Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the eco ...

and

Communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

became Prime Minister. Whilst Tymoshenko immediately announced that her political force would be in opposition to the new government,"We will be either in the opposition or we will fight in a new election"
Yulia Tymoshenko official website (7 July 2006) after the signing of the

Universal of National Unity The Universal of National Unity, also known as the Declaration of National Unity, ( uk, Універсал Національної Єдності, translit.: ''Universal Natsional'noi Yednosti'') is a declaration that was signed on August 3, 200 ...

Our Ukraine initially wanted to join this coalition and indeed five of its members where appointed

Cabinet of Ministers A cabinet is a body of high-ranking state officials, typically consisting of the executive branch's top leaders. Members of a cabinet are usually called cabinet ministers or secretaries. The function of a cabinet varies: in some countrie ...

in the coalition, but in October 2006 Our Ukraine joined the opposition. By November 2006 the five ministers where dismissed by parliament or withdrawn by Our Ukraine. Following the

2007 Ukrainian political crisis The political crisis in Ukraine lasted from April to June 2007 was part of political stand off between coalition and opposition factions of Verkhovna Rada that led to the unscheduled 2007 Ukrainian parliamentary election. It started on 2 April 20 ...

new elections were called and held in 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2006 Ukrainian Political Crisis Political scandals in Ukraine Political crisis

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

Viktor Yanukovych Viktor Yushchenko Yulia Tymoshenko 2006 disasters in Ukraine

History

See also

References