aff is tasked with developing national security policy on
domestic and international matters and advising the president; a
Presidential Secretariat helps draft presidential edicts and
provides policy support to the president
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term
(eligible for a second term); note - a special repeat runoff
presidential election between Viktor YUSHCHENKO and Viktor
YANUKOVYCH took place on 26 December 2004 after the earlier 21
November 2004 contest - won by Mr. YANUKOVYCH - was invalidated by
the Ukrainian Supreme Court because of widespread and significant
violations; under constitutional reforms that went into effect 1
January 2006, the majority in parliament takes the lead in naming
the prime minister
election results: Viktor YUSHCHENKO elected president; percent of
vote - Viktor YUSHCHENKO 51.99%, Viktor YANUKOVYCH 44.2%

Legislative branch:
unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; allocated
on a proportional basis to those parties that gain 3% or more of the
national electoral vote; members serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 26 March 2006 (next to be held March 2011)
election results: percent of vote by party/bloc in 2002 - Party of
Regions 32.1%, Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 22.3%, Our Ukraine 13.9%, SPU
5.7%, CPU 3.7%; seats by party/bloc - Party of Regions 186, Yuliya
Tymoshenko Bloc 129, Our Ukraine 81, SPU 33, CPU 21

Judicial branch:
Supreme Court; Constitutional Court

Political parties and leaders:
Communist Party of Ukraine or CPU [Petro SYMONENKO]; Fatherland
Party (Batkivshchyna) [Yuliya TYMOSHENKO]; People's Party Our
Ukraine [Viktor YUSHCHENKO]; Party of Industrialists and
Entrepreneurs [Anatoliy KINAKH]; People's Movement of Ukraine (Rukh)
[Borys TARASYUK]; People's Party [Volodymyr LYTVYN]; PORA! (It's
Time!) party [Vladyslav KASKIV]; Progressive Socialist Party
[Natalya VITRENKO]; Reforms and Order Party [Viktor PYNZENYK]; Party
of Regions [Viktor YANUKOVYCH]; Republican Party [Yuriy BOYKO];
Social Democratic Party (United) or SDPU(o) [Viktor MEDVEDCHUK];
Socialist Party of Ukraine or SPU [Oleksandr MOROZ, chairman];
Ukrainian People's Party [Yuriy KOSTENKO]; Viche [Inna BOHUSLOVSKA]

Political pressure groups and leaders:
Committee of Voters of Ukraine [Ihor POPOV]; Peoples' Self-Defense
[Yuriy LUTSENKO]; Ne Tak [Leonid KRAVCHUK]

International organization