2002 Ukrainian parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Ukraine on 31 March 2002.[1] The Our Ukraine bloc emerged as the largest faction in the Verkhovna Rada, winning 111 of the 447 seats.[2]

2002 Ukrainian parliamentary election
31 March 2002
All 450 seats of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
226 seats needed for a majority
Turnout69.27%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Volodymyr Lytvyn Viktor Yushchenko Petro Symonenko
Party For United Ukraine! Our Ukraine Bloc Communist Party
Leader since 2001 2002 1993
Seats won 121 112 65
Seat change 83 59 58
Percentage 11.8% 23.6% 20.0%
Swing 2.2 pp 4.2 pp 4.7 pp
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Viktor Medvedchuk Yulia Tymoshenko Oleksandr Moroz
Party SDPU (united) Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc Socialist Party
Leader since 1998 2001 1991
Seats won 27 22 22
Seat change 9 New 5
Percentage 6.3% 7.3% 6.9%
Swing 2.3 pp New —
Results of the 2002 parliamentary election.
Chairman of Parliament before election

Ivan Plyushch
NDPU

 Elected Chairman of Parliament

Volodymyr Lytvyn
For United Ukraine!

Single constituency winners

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe noted at the time that there were physical assaults and harassment of candidates and campaign workers associated with opposition political parties prior to the March election.[3] The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc complained of campaign related violations including "an informal 'media blackout,' [and] negatively slanted coverage".[3]

Electoral system

In this election, parallel voting was used. Half of the deputies to Verkhovna Rada (parliament of Ukraine) were elected on proportional basis, while the other half were elected by popular vote in single-mandate constituencies.[4] In order to gain any (proportional) seats in Verkhovna Rada a party needed to receive at least 4% of the popular vote.[5]

Public opinion polls
Polls Our Ukraine Communists ZaEdU[6] SDPU (o)[7] BYuT[8] Socialists Vitrenko[9] Greens Zh/M[10] KOP[11] Apple
All-Ukrainian Social Service (3/31/2002)[12] 22% 20% 14% 8% 6% 5% 3.5%
Razumkov Centre (3/29/2002)[13] 26-28% 18-19% 7-8% 9-10% 7-8% 3.5-4.5% 4-5% 4.5-5.5% 4-5% 2.5-3.5% 2.5-3%
Politic's Institute (3/29/2002)[13] 29-32% 19-21% 6-8% 7-9% 4-5% 4-5% 5-6% 4-5%
Ukrainian Institute of Social Research and
Center "Social Monitoring" (3/27/2002)[14]		 23-25% 17-19% 11-13% 10-12% 5.5-7% 3.5-4.5% 3-4% 4-5.5% 4-5.5% 2.5-4% 2.5-3.5%
Center SOCIS (3/27/2002)[14] 31-33% 17-19% 5-6% 7-8% 3-4% 2-3% 2-3% 5-6% 4-5%

Incidents

On 29 March 2002 the Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko won a case on defamation against the Chairman of the Tax Administration of Ukraine Mykola Azarov. The Shevchenkivsky District Court of the Kyiv city prohibited the Tax Administration of Ukraine to spread lies against the opposition electoral bloc.[15]

Late at night on 29 March 2002 vice-governor of the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast Mykola Shkriblyak was mortally wounded. Shkriblyak was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) and he was a parliamentary candidate in the 90th electoral district. He died later in a local hospital.[16]

Results
  ← Summary of the 31 March 2002 Verkhovna Rada election results →
Parties and coalitions Nationwide constituency Const.
seats		 Total seats
Votes % ±pp Seats Seats +/-
Bloc of Viktor Yushchenko "Our Ukraine" Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists
Liberal Party of Ukraine
Youth Party of Ukraine
People's Movement of Ukraine
Reforms and Order Party [lower-alpha 1]
Solidarity
Christian Democratic Union
Forward, Ukraine!
Republican Christian Party
Ukrainian People's Party		 6,108,088 23.57 4.15[lower-alpha 2] 70 42
112 / 450
 50
Communist Party of Ukraine 5,178,074 19.99 4.66 59 6
65 / 450
 57
For United Ukraine! Agrarian Party of Ukraine
People's Democratic Party
Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Ukraine
Party of Regions
Labour Ukraine		 3,051,056 11.78 2.18[lower-alpha 3] 35 86
121 / 450
 85
Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc Fatherland
Ukrainian Republican Party
Ukrainian People's Party "Sobor"
Ukrainian Social Democratic Party		 1,882,087 7.26 New 22 —
22 / 450
 New
Socialist Party of Ukraine 1,780,642 6.87 —[lower-alpha 4] 20 2
22 / 450
 5
Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) 1,626,721 6.28 2.27 19 8
27 / 450
 10
Nataliya Vitrenko Bloc Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine
Party of Educators of Ukraine		 836,198 3.23 0.82[lower-alpha 5] — — — 17
Women for the Future 547,916 2.11 New — — — New
Team of Winter Generation Liberal Democratic Party of Ukraine
Viche
Party of Private Property
Ukrainian Peasant Democratic Party		 525,025 2.03 0.99[lower-alpha 6] — — — 1
Communist Party of Ukraine (renewed) 362,712 1.40 New — — — New
Party of Greens of Ukraine 338,252 1.31 4.13 — — — 19
Apple 299,764 1.16 New — — — New
Unity Unity
Social Democratic Union
Young Ukraine
Ukrainian Party of Justice		 282,491 1.09 New — 4
4 / 450
 New
Democratic Party of Ukraine — Democratic Union Democratic Party of Ukraine
Democratic Union		 227,393 0.88 0.35[lower-alpha 7] — 5
5 / 450
 3
New Generation of Ukraine 201,157 0.78 New — — — New
Russian Bloc For One Rus
Rus
Union		 190,839 0.74 0.04[lower-alpha 8] — — — 1
ZUBR[lower-alpha 9] (For Ukraine, Belarus and Russia) For Human Rights
Light from the East		 112,259 0.43 New — — — New
Communist Party of Workers and Peasants 106,904 0.41 New — — — New
Peasant Party of Ukraine 98,428 0.38 —[lower-alpha 10] — — — 12
Rehabilitation of the People of Ukraine Party 91,098 0.35 New — — — New
All-Ukrainian Party of Workers 88,842 0.34 0.45 — — — 1
All-Ukrainian Association of Christians 75,174 0.29 New — — — New
Social Democratic Party of Ukraine 68,664 0.27 0.05 — — — 0
Bloc "Popular Movement of Ukraine" People's Movement of Ukraine for Unity
Center		 41,730 0.16 New — — — New
Bloc "Against all" Patriotic Party of Ukraine
Political Party of Small and Medium-sized Businesses of Ukraine		 29,665 0.11 New — — — New
Ukrainian Marine Party 29,025 0.11 New — 1
1 / 450
 New
Popular Party of Investors and Social Protection 27,273 0.11 New — — — New
All-Ukrainian Party "New Force" 26,299 0.10 New — — — New
Christian Movement 23,591 0.09 New — — — New
Party of All-Ukrainian Union of the Left "Justice" 21,957 0.08 New — — — New
Ukrainian National Assembly 11,839 0.05 0.34 — 1
1 / 450
 1
Bloc of Ukrainian Party and New World Ukrainian Party
All-Ukrainian Party of Interethnic Understanding "New World"		 11,048 0.04 New — — — New
Liberal Ukraine 8,535 0.03 New — — — New
Party of National Economic Development of Ukraine —[lower-alpha 11] — — — 1
1 / 450
 1
Independents — — — — 66
66 / 450
 39
Against all 635,199 2.45 2.81
Invalid ballot papers 963,462 3.72 0.63
Vacant (constituencies with no result) 3 3
Total 25,909,407 100 225 225 450
Registered voters/turnout 37,403,661 69.27 1.51
Source: Central Electoral Commission
Notes:
  1. At the moment of the election the party temporally had name "Our Ukraine". Do not confuse with created in 2005 party Our Ukraine
  2. Result is compared to the combined totals of People's Movement of Ukraine, Reforms and Order Party, "National Front" Alliance (a part of which Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists was),
    "Together" alliance (a part of which Liberal Party of Ukraine was), Forward, Ukraine! and Republican Christian Party in the previous election
  3. Result is compared to the combined totals of People's Democratic Party, Agrarian Party of Ukraine and Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine in the previous election
  4. At the previous election ran as a part of Socialist Party – Peasant Party electoral alliance
  5. Result is compared to the Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine
  6. Result is compared to the combined totals of Social Liberal Association and "European Choice of Ukraine" alliances in the previous election
  7. Result is compared to the Bloc of Democratic Parties — NEP
  8. Result is compared to the Union party
  9. An abbreviation that is the same as Ukrainian word for Wisent or Belarusian bison
  10. In the previous election the party ran in the Socialist Party – Peasant Party electoral alliance
  11. Did not participate in party voting, but only in single-member constituencies

The final election results differed greatly from the final opinion poll.[17] The 2002 parliamentary elections were the first that substantially reduced fragmentation of the Verkhovna Rada and laid the groundwork for consolidation of political views in the parliament.

Yushchenko's Our Ukraine gathered most of its support from western and central regions of Ukraine, including the city of Kyiv. The Communist Party received most of its votes from eastern and southern regions, as well as from Crimea. For United Ukraine block, which included Victor Yanukovych's Party of Regions, got most of its votes from eastern regions of Ukraine. Donetsk Oblast was the stronghold of the block, where it received more than twice the number of votes (36.83%) compared to the next highest supporting region: Sumy Oblast with 17.05% of the region's voters. Yulia Tymoshenko's block's support came predominantly from western regions, while the Socialists were most supported in the central regions. While the Tymoshenko block received more of the national vote compared to the Socialist Party, it did not gain a plurality in any of the regions, while the Socialist Party managed to secure plurality of votes in Poltava Oblast with 22.05%.

Electoral districts

The following table demonstrates all winners of the 225 electoral districts.[18]

Several lawmakers elected into the new parliament have family ties with other lawmakers or other family members in the executive branch of Ukrainian politics.[19]

Faction changes after 2002 election

After the election, several MPs left their parties to join another others.[20]

 Faction changes after the Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2002 (main parties and alliances)
Parties and alliances Number of seats on 15 May 2002 Number of seats on 19 October 2002 Number of seats on 2 January 2003 Number of seats on 16 September 2005   
Viktor Yushchenko Bloc Our Ukraine 119 110 102 45 74 seats
Communist Party of Ukraine 64 61 60 56 8 seats
For United Ukraine 175 Disbanded Disbanded Disbanded 175 seats
Electoral Bloc Yuliya Tymoshenko 23 20 18 40 17 seats
Socialist Party of Ukraine 22 21 20 26 4 seats
United Social Democratic Party of Ukraine 31 38 40 20 11 seats
Source: Virtual Politics - Faking Democracy in the Post-Soviet World, Andrew Wilson, Yale University Press, 2005, ISBN 0-300-09545-7 & Ukraine on Its Meandering Path Between East and West by Andrej Lushnycky and Mykola Riabchuk, Peter Lang, 2009, ISBN 303911607X & Ukraine at the Crossroads: Velvet Revolution or Belarusification by Olexiy Haran, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, October 2002

By October 2002 the For United Ukraine faction had broken down in 8 new parliamentary factions.[21]

References
  1. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1976 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. Nohlen & Stöver, p1991
  3. Ukraine:Treatment of the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (SDPU); relationship with the National Salvation Forum (FNB); treatment of FNB members, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada via UNHCR (14 August 2003)
  4. Against All Odds: Aiding Political Parties in Georgia and Ukraine (UvA Proefschriften) by Max Bader, Vossiuspers UvA, 2010, ISBN 90-5629-631-0 (page 93)
  5. Ukraine at the Crossroads: Economic Reforms in International Perspective by Axel Siedenberg (Editor), Lutz Hoffmann, Physica-Verlag Heidelberg, 1999, ISBN 3790811890/ISBN 978-3790811896 (page 184)
  6. For One Ukraine
  7. Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united)
  8. Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko
  9. Bloc of Nataliya Vitrenko
  10. Women for Future
  11. Team of Winter Generation
  12. (in Ukrainian) "За ЄдУ" отримує свої 14%. У відповідному exit-poll (ZaEdU is receiving its 14%. In the respective exit-poll). Ukrayinska Pravda. March 31, 2002
  13. (in Ukrainian) Вибори-2002: остаточний прогноз (Elections-2002: the final forecast). Ukrayinska Pravda. March 29, 2002
  14. Рейтинги переможців. Без табу (Ratings of victors. No taboo). Ukrayinska Pravda. March 27, 2002
  15. Тимошенко виграла суд у Азарова (Tymoshenko won case against Azarov). Ukrayinska Pravda. March 29, 2002
  16. Вбито кандидата в депутати від СДПУ(О) (A parliamentary candidate from SDPU (u) was killed). Ukrayinska Pravda. March 30, 2002
  17. Ukraine's election frontrunners, BBC News (28 March 2002)
  18. (in Ukrainian) Winners, Ukrainian Weekly. April 14, 2002. page 3.
  19. Family ties that bind parliament, Kyiv Post (15 November 2012)
  20. Virtual Politics - Faking Democracy in the Post-Soviet World, Andrew Wilson, Yale University Press, 2005, ISBN 0-300-09545-7
  21. Ukraine at the Crossroads: Velvet Revolution or Belarusification by Olexiy Haran, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, October 2002
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