After much debate, the Verkhovna Rada voted on June 23 to set the date of presidential election for Jan. 17, 2010.
After much debate, the Verkhovna Rada voted on June 23 to set the date of the next presidential election for Jan. 17. Nearly 400 out of 442 lawmakers supported the bill. However, more changes to election laws are expected to follow. In particular, representatives of the Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko said they want to reduce the length of the official election campaign from the current 120 days to 90, moving its start to Oct. 19. Other changes reportedly proposed by BYuT with the Regions Party include limitations on the Supreme Court’s involvement in the appeal of election results. But the details of these amendments haven’t been released. The next president’s inauguration date may be as late as April 2010, effectively extending President Victor Yushchenko’s term beyond the legal five years. Yushchenko was inaugurated on Jan. 23, 2005, after the democratic Orange Revolution forced the rerun of a rigged election. This will be the nation’s first presidential vote since then.
