Ukraine. Precarious Post-electoral Reversals

Abstract:

Since Ukraine’s 2010 presidential elections, the governing coalition has annulled the 2004 constitutional amendment enacted after the Orange Revolution. President Victor Yanukovich took up the question in June 2010, and on September 30, 2010, the Constitutional Court repealed the 2004 amendment. Ukraine has now returned de facto to the 1996 Constitution.

This policy brief outlines the political changes in Ukraine in 2010. It argues that these changes were partially a product of the transition of power between presidents Yushchenko and Yanukovich, and partially born out of the multiple deadlocks between president and parliament from 2007 to 2009. Presidential powers have been reinforced, however, and the changes to the regional electoral law have served to construct a political arena that makes it di cult for the political forces of the opposition to compete against the majority coalition.