Early

presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The ...

were held in

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 ...

on 26 June 1994, with a second round on 10 July.

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...

& Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1976 They were held ahead of schedule following a compromise between President

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 ...

and 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 ...

, the Ukrainian parliament. The elections saw Kravchuk defeated by his former

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Leonid Kuchma Leonid Danylovych Kuchma (, ; born 9 August 1938) is a Ukrainian politician who was the second president of Ukraine, serving from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. The only president of Ukraine to serve two terms, his presidency was marked by demo ...

. They were the first presidential elections in the

Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional organization, regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an ar ...

in which the incumbent was defeated. Kuchma took office on 19 July, marking the first peaceful transfer of power in Ukraine since the fall of Communism.

Background

On 17 June 1993, the Verkhovna Rada voted to hold a referendum on 26 September that would serve as a

motion of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

in President Kravchuk. However, the referendum was cancelled two days before it was due to be held. The

instead decided to hold early parliamentary elections on 24 March 1994, and early presidential elections two months later.

Results

In the first round, Kravchuk was supported by the People's Movement (which had originally collected signatures for Volodymyr Lanovyi) and the Democratic Association, an alliance of right-wing parties that viewed Kuchma as pro-Russian. Kuchma was supported by the Interregional Bloc of Reforms, and

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

candidate

Oleksandr Moroz Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Moroz (born 29 February 1944) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician. He was the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada twice, from 1994 to 1998 and again from 2006 to 2007. Moroz is one of the founders and the leader of the Soci ...

was supported by the Communist Party and Peasant Party.Political parties of Ukraine in cooperation with structures of power
Kyiv center of political research and conflictology After Moroz was knocked out, the Communists supported Kuchma in the second round.

Notes

References

{{1994 presidential election candidates, Ukraine

Presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

Presidential elections in Ukraine

Leonid Kuchma Leonid Kravchuk