Click here for Ukraine’s 2004 Presidential Election Tracker

During his term in office, Yushchenko had to deal with sagging approval for his administration, which was been dogged by allegations of corruption. He dismissed his entire cabinet in September 2005 to appoint a new roster of senior staff in an attempt to make the government more effective.

The cabinet reshuffle meant the end of the tenure of prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who had provided her party’s support to Yushchenko during the presidential re-vote. Yushchenko appointed Dnipropetrovsk governor Yuri Yekhanurov as head of government.

In March 2006, Ukrainian voters renewed the Supreme Council. In July, the "anti-crisis" governing coalition—which includes Yanukovych’s Party of Regions (PR), the Socialist Party of Ukraine (SPU) and the Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU)—was formally announced. In August, Yanukovych was confirmed as prime minister, while Yushchenko remained as president.

Click here for Ukraine’s 2006 Supreme Council Election Tracker

Yanukovych and Yushchenko agreed to work on a 27-point declaration contemplating improving Ukraine’s relations with the EU and a plan to eventually join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

In late 2006, Yushchenko called for a review of the national constitution, declaring, "The future constitutional commission will be bound to make pragmatic decisions for better relations between power branches, court and legal reforms, opposition rights and other constitutional issues. The fundamental law is a national document, and not a single power branch can monopolize it."

The government was been deemed very ineffective since Yushchenko’s pro-Western and Yanukovych’s pro-Russian factions were forced to work in coalition. In February 2007, Yushchenko accused lawmakers loyal to Yanukovych of taking decisions "with such insufficient consideration that they can be based only on emotions and the desire for some primitive revenge" for the prime minister’s defeat in the 2004 ballot.

In April, Yushchenko dissolved the legislature and called a snap ballot alleging that the stalemate could not be solved without it.

Prime minister Yanukovych rejected the call for a ballot for over a month, and the Constitutional Court was called to rule whether the dissolution of the legislature was against the law. The court—allegedly under pressure, as stated by at least one judge— eventually ruled in favour of holding the ballot.

Click Here for Ukraine’s 2007 Supreme Council Election Tracker 

The months running up to the election featured a major discussion about the powers of the presidency and the prime minister’s office, as well as a rift between the executive and the judicial branches of government.

The election, which finally took place in September, also brought president Yushchenko and opposition leader Tymoshenko back together after a period of conflict.

On May 17, Constitutional Court chairman Ivan Dombrovsky resigned.

On May 23, the Constitutional Court curtailed the president’s power to appoint and fire the heads of local courts. Under Ukrainian law, chief judges and deputies are nominated by the Supreme Court’s chief judge, and then appointed or fired by the president. Critics of the president have complained that Yushchenko had been appointing only loyalists to the courts in recent months.

On Aug. 7, Yushchenko said that his party was reunited with the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, declaring, "The battle of the mediaeval chiefs has ended. This is what all the Ukrainian people have been waiting for. (...) Tymoshenko’s bloc is advancing alongside us, shoulder to shoulder. Our common victory depends on how we help each other and how we coordinate our work."

Tymoshenko—who sided with Yushchenko at the time of the "Orange Revolution"—served as prime minister from January 2005 to September 2005.

In late August, Yushchenko again called for a new constitution in order to resolve disputes over the powers of the different branches of government. The president said he would call for a constitutional council to begin the revision process, and then call for a public vote to ratify the changes to the charter.

On Sept. 11, Yushchenko accused Russia of obstructing an investigation into his poisoning with a substance known as dioxin in 2004. Yushchenko claimed at the time that he had been poisoned by "political rivals. " The illness left his face pockmarked. Yushchenko also suffered from back pain, acute pancreatitis and nerve paralysis on the left side of his face.

In a highly publicized interview, Yushchenko declared: "The role of all of the individuals that might be involved in this case is already determined. The investigation knows who, when, where, which substance was used." The Ukrainian president added that dioxin is produced only in the United States, Britain and Russia, and said Russia refuses to provide a sample of its product.

By late September, Yushchenko and Tymoshenko were campaigning together. The president promised that with Tymoshenko in the prime minister’s office the government would finally work smoothly.

Voting took place on Sept. 30. On Oct. 1, both rival factions claimed victory.

On Dec. 12, Tymoshenko was ratified as prime minister, with the support of 225 lawmakers. Her cabinet features finance minister Viktor Pynzenyk and interior minister Yury Lutsenko.

2008 Supreme Council Election

The alliance between president and prime minister had its first major disagreement in late April, when Yushchenko decided to block a series of reform initiatives put forward by Tymoshenko. On Apr. 26, Tymoshenko expressed her dissatisfaction with the situation, saying, "I think the reason is that the president is very intensively thinking about the presidential election of 2009, and sees me as competitor. However, this competition must not stop transparency and reforms in my country."

On Sept. 3, the coalition finally split, in great part due to disagreements over a conflict between Georgia and Russia triggered by Georgian armed forces in the breakaway province of South Ossetia. In the days following the incursion, Yushchenko asked the government to fiercely condemn Russia’s actions in Georgia, but Tymoshenko refused to take a strong stance against Russia. Yushchenko left the coalition as a result. Tymoshenko accused the president of "destroying" the governing coalition by pulling out.

On Sept. 4, former prime minister Viktor Yanukovych—the most prominent opposition politician—suggested he could accept an invitation to work with Tymoshenko, saying, "I have great experience of working with people at various levels. So, I see no obstacles at all. (...) I worked with Viktor Yushchenko. I was the prime minister, while he was the president. (...) When we are talking about the interests of the state, I have only one position: It’s to protect the interests of the country."

Yanukovych belongs to the Party of Regions (PR). On Aug. 26, when the Russian government officially recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, two Georgina provinces, Yanukovych urged the Ukrainian government to side with Russia, saying, "I believe Ukraine should accept the will of peoples of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and recognize their independence."

On Oct. 6, Yushchenko said he would like to see the "orange coalition" restored, but said the prime minister lacks the will to do so, adding, "Yet another election causes stress in the country. But let us not forget that an early election, while a radical solution, is a constitutional and democratic way out of this crisis."

On Oct. 8, Yushchenko addressed the nation on television, and declared: "I am deeply convinced that it was human ambition that destroyed the democratic coalition—one person’s ambition, lust for power, differences in values and putting personal interests ahead of national ones." Tymoshenko has called the dissolution of parliament "unconstitutional" and "senseless".

On Oct. 9, Yushchenko set the date for the legislative election for Dec. 7.

On Oct. 14, Tymoshenko said Ukraine cannot afford to have an early election—both politically and monetarily—saying, "We are categorically against destabilizing the situation with the early election and that is why we think the president’s decree should be cancelled. (…) When every kopiyka is needed to counter the global financial crisis, spending half a billion hrvyna for the early elections adventure is a direct action against national interests." Tymoshenko was referring to the Ukrainian currency.

That same day, Tymoshenko went on to block funds for the election, saying, "An early election is a disaster for Ukraine and there is no logic in financing it. The reserve fund is intended to overcome natural disasters, not create them." The prime minister was responding to a request by a council headed by Yushchenko himself to free funds for the early ballot.

On Oct. 20, Yushchenko announced that the election would be postponed until Dec. 14.

On Nov. 3, Yushchenko said that Ukrainians have “lost faith” in current prime minister Tymoshenko, adding that his Our Ukraine party has “no desire to return to the coalition” and that, at this point, “snap elections are the only constitutional way out.”

Also on Nov. 3, Tymoshenko said that she would be willing to restore the governing coalition, saying, “For the sake of forming a coalition of Our Ukraine - People’s Self-Defence, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and the Lytvyn Bloc, I am ready to meet any reasonable requirements of the president. (...) I am ready to sit down with Yushchenko at the negotiating table. This is a case when I am ready to forgive all offences.”

On Nov. 10, the election was postponed indefinitely. Presidential spokesman Andriy Kyslynskiy said the ballot should not take place until “the economic situation clams down.”

On Nov. 13, Yushchenko declared: “We have a few issues to solve over the next weeks. It is obvious that organising an early election anytime around Christmas would be unwise. The most important thing is to undertake anti-crisis actions and approve the 2009 budget. The budget should include a line referring to the financing of the election.”

On Nov. 19, Yushchenko asked NATO once again to offer Ukraine access to the group, saying that it should resist Russian pressure against it, and adding, “I am sure that the ball is not on the Ukrainian side of the field, but Ukraine has done everything it had to do.”

The Ukrainian government is seeking to increase support for NATO accession through a major publicity effort. On Nov. 24, Foreign Ministry spokesman Vasyl Kyrylych unveiled an awareness campaign which entails sending out a quiz about NATO’s history and current mandates by text-message. The government has offered the winners of this nationwide contest a trip to NATO headquarters in Brussels. The quiz includes questions such as “How many countries were created when the Soviet Union dissolved, and how many of them are NATO members?”, and “What percentage of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is produced by the United States and China?”

On Nov. 29, the NS-NU formally elected Yushchenko as its leader. NS-NU member Andriy Parubiy declared: “I believe this is a clear signal that if early elections take place in 2009, Viktor Yushchenko will top the list of our party or a bloc if such is set up.”

On Dec. 1, Viktor Baloga, head of the presidential secretariat, commented on Yushchenko’s decision not to hold an early election, saying, “The president does not need elections when we are facing an economic crisis, which is a very serious problem. (...) The consolidation of the legislative body and of political forces is problem number one today. The adoption of a package of laws needed for the formation of the 2009 budget is problem number two. The problem of the election and the posts should be tackled after those two.”

Political Players

President: Viktor Yushchenko
Prime minister: Yulia Tymoshenko

The president is elected to a five-year term by popular vote.

Parliament: The Verkhovna Rada (Supreme Council) has 450 members, elected to four-year terms by proportional representation.

Results of Last Election:

President - Oct. 31, Nov. 21 (*) and Dec. 26, 2004

(*) On Dec. 3, the Supreme Court invalidated the results of the Nov. 21 presidential run-off between Yushchenko and Yanukovych and ordered a special re-vote.

Supreme Council - Sept. 30, 2007