Supreme Soviet elections were held in the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

on 4 March 1990, with runoffs in some seats held between 10 and 18 March. The elections were held to elect deputies to the republic's parliament, the

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

. Simultaneously, elections of oblast councils also took place in their respective

administrative divisions Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

. They were the first relatively free elections held in the SSR, and the closest thing to a free election Ukraine had seen since the unfinished 1918 Constituent Assembly elections. Although the campaign was far from being clear and transparent, representatives of the Democratic Bloc were the first to provide a legal challenge to the authority of the Communist Party of the Ukrainian SSR in parliament. A total of 442 National Deputies were elected – short of the 450 seat total, due to low voter turnout. The parliamentary convocation that convened after the 1990 election declared the independence of

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

from the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

on 24 August 1991. Later, an amendment to the official number of parliamentary convocations recognized this 12th convocation of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR as the first convocation of the Verkhovna Rada.

Background

In the wake of

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

perestroika ''Perestroika'' ( ; rus, перестройка, r=perestrojka, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg, links=no) was a political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s, widely associ ...

, the ''Law on Elections'' – adopted on 27 October 1989 – included provisions for direct elections of individuals (as opposed to group representation of civic organizations), the need for alternative (non-Communist) candidates, the elimination of a requirement for nomination meetings, and other relatively democratic provisions. However, the elections were far from being free – as the Communist Party retained control on the media, exerted political influence, and had a large financial resource base.

Electoral system

The elections took place according to the majoritarian electoral system in 450 electoral regions. In electoral regions where no candidate obtained at least 50% of the vote, a second round of elections was held. The number of seats in the Supreme Soviet was reduced from 650 to 450.Peter J. Potichnyj (1993) "The March 1990 Elections in Ukraine" in ''Ukrainian Past, Ukrainian Present'', pp123–133

Campaign

A total of 2,999 candidates contested the 450 seats, with four constituencies having only one candidate. During the election campaign, the self-titled " Democratic Bloc" was formed, which included the People's Movement of Ukraine (''Rukh''), the Helsinki Watch Committee of Ukraine, the Green Party of Ukraine, and many other organizations.

Results

In the first round 112 candidates were elected. A further 330 were elected in the second round, leaving eight seats vacant due to low voter turnout. Further rounds of voting in six constituencies were scheduled for 22 April. The Communists obtained 331 seats in the Rada. The Democratic Bloc obtained 111 seats out of 442. In the parliament, the democratic deputies formed the ''"Narodna Rada"'' (People's Council) group, which consisted of 90 to 125 members. ''Narodna Rada'' became the opposition bloc to the parliamentary majority and Ihor Yukhnovskyi was elected as the opposition group's leader.

Factions

* For a Soviet Sovereign Ukraine / "Group of 239" (

Communist Party of Ukraine The Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU or KPU) is a banned political party in Ukraine. It was founded in 1993 and claimed to be the successor to the Soviet-era Communist Party of Ukraine, which had been banned in 1991. In 2002 it held a "unifi ...

) – 239 * People's Council ( People's Movement of Ukraine) – 125 * CPU Democratic platform ( Party of Democratic Revival of Ukraine) – 41 * Democratic Party of Ukraine ( Democratic Party of Ukraine) – 19 * Ukrainian Republican Party ( Ukrainian Republican Party) – 12 * Unaffiliated members of parliament

Aftermath

The first meeting of the Parliament took place on May 15, 1990. The Communist deputies elected Volodymyr Ivashko to serve as the Parliament

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

, but on July 19, 1991 he chose to move to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

for the position of Deputy General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Ukrainian Communists were rapidly losing popularity; by July 1990 ninety-two of the deputies elected as Communists declared themselves as " Independents". The remaining 239 communist deputies formed a new majority group they called "For a Soviet Sovereign Ukraine", informally known as the "group of 239".Subtelny, p. 577. On July 16, 1990, this Parliament adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine. The Declaration was supported by 355 deputies. On July 18 the "For a Soviet Sovereign Ukraine" group led by Oleksander MorozHistoric vote for independence
, '' The Ukrainian Weekly'' (1 September 1991) elected

Leonid Kravchuk Leonid Makarovych Kravchuk (, ; 10 January 1934 – 10 May 2022) was a Ukrainian politician and the first president of Ukraine, serving from 5 December 1991 until 19 July 1994. In 1992, he signed the Lisbon Protocol, undertaking to give up Ukrai ...

as the Chairman of Parliament. On 24 October 1990, the Parliament amended the 1978 Constitution of the Ukrainian SSR, in particular to exclude Article 6. Prior to the amendments, the supreme governing body of the Ukrainian SSR was the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Ukrainian SSR. On 24 August 1991 the parliament declared Ukraine independent and called for a referendum on support for the Declaration of Independence.A History of Ukraine: The Land and Its Peoples
by Paul Robert Magocsi,

University of Toronto Press The University of Toronto Press is a Canadian university press. Although it was founded in 1901, the press did not actually publish any books until 1911. The press originally printed only examination books and the university calendar. Its first s ...

, 2010, (page 722/723) In the following days it also banned the

and nationalized its property (this ban was only theoretical since de facto the Communist elite continued to rule the country). On December 5, 1991

surrendered his parliamentary duties to accept the

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

of an independent Ukraine. The post of Parliament Chairman was awarded to Ivan Plyushch. After the banning of the Communist Party of Ukraine, remnants of its elected deputies (the "group of 239") joined other left-wing parties; most became

independent politicians An independent politician or non-affiliated politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or Bureaucracy, bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicia ...

.The Moulding of Ukraine: The Constitutional Politics of State Formation
by Kataryna Wolczuk,

Central European University Press Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

, 2001, (page 109)

Statistics

The first convocation had eight sessions where 85 legal documents were submitted. Six of the legal projects were initiated by the

President of Ukraine The president of Ukraine (, ) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. ...

and 38 by the Cabinet of Ministers. The most productive sessions were the last two (the 7th and 8th) where 60 legal projects were submitted.

Government leaders

Below is a list of the Chairmen of the 1st Convocation of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

Prime minister

Note: an appointment to this office had little influence from the Verkhovna Rada until the constitutional reforms of 2004.

References

{{1991 Independence of Ukraine

Parliamentary election Parliamentary elections in Ukraine

1st Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada Election and referendum articles with incomplete results