The Party of Regions (PR), led by Viktor Yanukovych, is Ukraine’s most popular political organization, according to a poll by the Public Opinion Foundation. 30 per cent of respondents would vote for the current prime minister’s party in this year’s parliamentary election.
The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc is second with 17 per cent, followed by the People’s Union-Our Ukraine (NS-NU) coalition of current president Viktor Yushchenko with nine per cent, the People’s Self-Defence of Yury Lutsenko with four per cent, the Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU) also with four per cent, and the Socialist Party of Ukraine (SPU) with two per cent.
Ukrainian voters renewed the Supreme Council in March 2006. The PR won 186 seats in the legislative branch, followed by the Tymoshenko Bloc with 129, the NS-NU with 81, the SPU with 33, and the KPU with 21 mandates. Parties require at least three per cent of the vote to qualify for proportional representation seats in the Supreme Council.
In July, the "anti-crisis" coalition—which includes Yanukovych’s Party of Regions (PR), Oleksandr Moroz’s Socialist Party of Ukraine (SPU) and the KPU—was formally announced. In August, Yanukovych was confirmed as prime minister, while Yushchenko remained as president.
On Apr. 2, Yushchenko dissolved the Supreme Council and called an election for May 27, which was later re-scheduled for Jun. 24.
On May 7, Yanukovych rejected the proposed new date because the timing fails to guarantee the elections will be transparent, adding, "If early elections are to be held, they must be provided with a legal framework, which is not in place yet."
