At stake in this election:

• 450 seats in the Supreme Council (Verkhovna Rada)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Leonid D. KUCHMA
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Valeriy PUSTOVOYTENKO
• Assembly: Ukraine has a unicameral Supreme Council (Verkhovna Rada) with 450 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.
• The Prime Minister is appointed by the president with the approval of the parliament.
• In the Supreme Council (Verkhovna Rada), 225 members are allocated through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms and 225 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Ukrainian Communist Party (KPU)
  • Leader: Petr SYMONENKO
  • Seats won in this election: 124
  • Seats won in last election: 90
• Party: Ukrainian People's Movement for Restructuring (RUKH)
  • Leader: Vyacheslav CHORNOVIL
  • Seats won in this election: 46
  • Seats won in last election: 20
• Party: Bloc of Socialist and Peasants Party
  • Leader: Oleksandr MOROZ
  • Seats won in this election: 35
  • Seats won in last election: 34
• Party: People's Democratic Party
  • Leader: Valeriy PUSTOVOITENKO
  • Seats won in this election: 28
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Party: Hromada Party
  • Leader: Pavlo LAZARENKO
  • Seats won in this election: 23
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Party: Green Party of Ukraine
  • Leader: Vitaliy M. KONONOV
  • Seats won in this election: 19
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Party: Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (United)
  • Leader: Leonid KRAVCHUK
  • Seats won in this election: 18
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Party: Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine
  • Leader: Natalia VITRENKO
  • Seats won in this election: 17
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Party: Agraian Party of Ukraine
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this election: 8
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Party: Reforms and Order Party
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this election: 3
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Party: Other Parties
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this election: 129
  • Seats won in last election: N/A

Last Parliamentary election:

• Parliamentary elections were last held on March 27, 1994.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 50,447,719 (est.)
• Registered Voters: 37,540,092 (1998)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 26,784,158 (1998)

·         Is Ukraine a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Ukraine ratified CEDAW: Yes (12 March 1981)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 35 (following the 1998 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 81 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Ukraine a signatory to CRPD: Yes (24 September 2008)

·         Has Ukraine ratified CRPD: Yes (4 February 2010)

·         Population with a disability: 7,567,157 (est.)