The current Ukrainian political situation may be delaying the appointment of a new SDA director (or maybe not... it can be hard getting a definitive answer).

Fortunately this hasn't halted adoptions but rather slowed adoption processing.

So I decided to blog on the political standoff between the 2 Viktors.

Ukraine has a unicameral parliament called Verkhovna Rada. It has 450 elected deputies. And it takes 300 of the deputies to override a presidential veto.

Since the Rada is unicameral, they require 2 readings (votes) of a bill before it can passed. This gives everyone time to get in their revisions. Once a bill is passed it goes to the President for signature or veto.


The President of Ukraine is answerable to the parliament. He is the head of state and directly elected by the people. He can make treaties, declare war, vetos bills, etc...

The candidates for Prime Minister of Ukraine are nominated by the president and approved by the parliament. This process is highly suspect due to the constitutional reforms of 2004. Parliament now tells the President who to nominiate. The President doesn't seem to have any option other then saying "OK" to their choices.

The Prime Minister takes care of the day-to-day operational items. He runs the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine .

Prior to the constitutional reforms of 2004, the President selected the Ministers for the various departments. Now the Prime Minister selects the Ministers like Viktor Korzh.

The Constitutional Court is 18 appointed judges. 6 are appointed by the Congress of Judges. 6 are appointed by the President. 6 are appointed by the parliament. They can be appointed for one 9-year term. Their decisions are final and cannot be appealed. Their job is to interpret the constitutionality of laws.

Here is the timeline of recent events.

March (late) 2007 - 11 Parliament members switch political parties from Our Ukraine to Party of Regions. This move could potentially strip the President of his veto power.

April 2 2007 - President Viktor Yushchenko issues a decree to disolve Parliament and schedule new elections for May 27, 2007.

April 17 2007 - Ukraine’s 18 judge Constitutional Court started hearings on the constitutionality of President Yushchenko's order to disolve Pariament.

April 17 2007 - Yushchenko may be impeached if decree is unconstitutional - Yanukovych

April 17 2007 - Yushchenko rules out use of force

April 21 2007 - Ukrainian Parliament rules out impeachment of Yushchenko

April 24 2007 - Yushchenko and Yanukovych agreed to stop street protests

April 26 2007 - President Yushchenko cancels April 2 decree. He signs a new presidential decree which dissolves Parliament and schedules new elections for June 24, 2007.

April 27 2007 - Parliamentarians from Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych's coalition start discussing the procedures for impeaching a President.

April 27 2007 - More than 65,000 protest against Yushchenko in Ukraine capital

May 5 2007 - Constitutional Court scheduled to provide decision.

If you don't want to post a comment, you can email me at adoptukraineblog@adoptionmail.com