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Angus Reid Global Monitor : Polls & Research
Party of Regions Still First in Ukraine
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The Party of Regions (PR) is the top political organization in Ukraine before next month's legislative ballot, according to a poll by the Fund of Liberty. 34.7 per cent of respondents would vote for the PR, led by current prime minister Viktor Yanukovych, in the election.
The opposition Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc is second with 21.2 per cent, followed by the coalition of president Viktor Yushchenko's People's Union-Our Ukraine (NS-NU) and the People's Self-Defence Bloc with 18.6 per cent. Support is lower for the Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU), the Socialist Party of Ukraine (SPU), the Volodymyr Lytvyn Bloc, and the Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine (PSPU).
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 PR, Oleksandr Moroz's 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 early ballot. On May 27, Yushchenko and Yanukovych agreed to hold the election on Sept. 30.
On Aug. 20, Tymoshenko accused the Russian government of interference, saying, "Russia is trying to keep Ukraine within its sphere of influence. It's taking advantage of all of Ukraine's historical dependencies to do so, energy dependency among others. And it's using the quarrelling of Ukraine's elites. The longer Russia intends to maintain this system of dependency, the longer our relations won't be able to normalize."
Polling Data
Which of these parties would you vote for in the legislative election?
Party of Regions (PR) | 34.7% |
Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc | 21.2% |
People's Union-Our Ukraine (NS-NU) / | 18.6% |
Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU) | 6.9% |
Socialist Party of Ukraine (SPU) | 2.4% |
Volodymyr Lytvyn Bloc | 2.2% |
Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine (PSPU) | 1.5% |
Source: Fund of Liberty
Methodology: Interviews with 1,308 Ukrainian adults, conducted from Aug. 16 to Aug. 21, 2007. Margin of error is 2.9 per cent.