April 17, 2006 - The High Administrative Court has resumed considering suits challenging the official results of the parliamentary elections in Ukraine established by the Central Election Commission. Today, the court is due to continue hearing the explanations by the sides on the suits. On Sunday, April 16, the court heard explanations by a representative of the People's Opposition bloc of Natalia Vitrenko regarding one of the suits submitted by the bloc. The court is viewing 8 suits, which have been united in one court case, including 2 suits from the People's Opposition bloc of Natalia Vitrenko, one suit from Oleksandr Yerokhin, a parliamentary candidate from Natalia Vitrenko's bloc, 2 suits by the Bloc of Yurii Karmazin, 2 suits by the Viche Party, and 1 suit from the People's bloc of Lytvyn.

April 15, 2006 - The Higher Administrative Court has started considering the appeal filed by the People's Opposition Bloc of Natalia Vitrenko and Bloc of Yurii Karmazin against the announcement of Verkhovna Rada election returns by the Central Election Commission (CEC). The hearing is being held in the Higher Administrative Court at 8 Moskovska Street in Kyiv. Round 100 adherents of the Vitrenko Bloc have gathered near the building and are holding flags of the bloc. The case is being considered by the board of five judges. The Viche party, People's Bloc of Lytvyn and Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko are also taking part in the hearing as third parties.

April 13, 2006 - The High Administrative Court has forbidden the publication of the Verkhovna Rada election returns following the suit of People's Opposition bloc leader Natalia Vitrenko. In its verdict, the court prohibited the CEC from making any moves to divulge the election returns, as well as forbade editorial boards of newspapers Holos Ukrainy and Uriadovyi Kurier to publish the official results of the parliamentary ballot.

April 12, 2006 - President Viktor Yuschenko has discussed the outcome of this year's elections with the Central Election Commission Chairman Yaroslav Davydovych. The press service stated that Yuschenko and Davydovych agreed that the parliamentary elections were conducted honestly, lawfully, and in accordance with European requirements, and that this was recognized both in Ukraine and abroad. According to Yuschenko, the recent elections were possibly the first time that the conclusions of observers from the Commonwealth of Independent States and Western countries coincided. On the conclusions that need to be drawn from the elections, Yuschenko and Davydovych agreed that the organizational process requires some improvement. In particular, they noted that the ballot papers during the elections were excessively long, queues at polling stations were too long, there was difficulty creating election commissions, there were inaccuracies on lists of voters, etc. Yuschenko stressed that these issues need to be resolved during the next elections. According to Davydovych, both the election legislation and the organization of elections itself need to be changed. Specifically, he said that people working at polling stations should undergo special training. In general, Davydovych said the holding of honest elections demonstrated the political will of the Ukrainian authorities to move toward democratic changes.

April 12, 2006 - Central Election Commission Chairman Yaroslav Davydovych is confident that the official results of the parliamentary elections are lawful and will not be reviewed as a result of judicial complaints by the defeated political parties and blocs. Davydovych announced this to journalists after a meeting with President Viktor Yuschenko. According to him, he and Yuschenko discussed the election campaign and agreed that there was no reason to doubt the honesty of the election campaign. He said that the there was no “command style” in the election campaign and that the participation of the authorities was for creating the material and technical conditions for the elections. Davydovych said he has several proposals on how to improve the conduct of election campaigns. He believes that it is necessary to adopt an Election Code that systemizes all electoral procedures. Moreover, he believes that it is necessary to compile a list of voters and, before that, adopt a law on registration of individuals. Davydovych also considers it necessary to create a center for training election organizers in Kyiv in order to ensure that members of election commissions are trained and competent during the next elections. He also pointed out the shortcomings of the law on political parties and said he considered it necessary to improve control over their activities and the activities of their regional structures. According to Davydovych, many parties did not send representatives to election commissions because they did not have local structures.

April 11, 2006 - The Central Election Commission has ordered the Holos Ukrainy and Uriadovyi Kurier newspapers to publish the list of Verkhovna Rada deputies before April 15. According to CEC chairman Yaroslav Davydovych, the newspapers should publish the entire list of 450 MPs and indicate the party to which they belong. According to the final results of the parliamentary vote announced by the Central Election Commission, the Party of Regions has won 186 seats in the Verkhovna Rada, Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc — 129, Our Ukraine Bloc — 81, Socialist Party — 33 and Communists — 21. The Party of Regions enters the parliament with 32.14%, Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc with 22.29%, Our Ukraine Bloc — 13.95%, Socialist Party — 5.69% and Communist Party — 3.66%.

April 11, 2006 - According to the final results of the parliamentary vote announced by the Central Election Commission, the Party of Regions enters Parliament with 32.14%, Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc with 22.29%, Our Ukraine Bloc 13.95%, Socialist Party 5.69%, and the Communist Party 3.66%. This information was disclosed by the CEC in the statement on official results. Party of the Regions has won 186 seats in the Verkhovna Rada, Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc 129, Our Ukraine bloc 81, Socialist Party 33 and Communists 21. Voting results: ¹ Party (Bloc) Votes for, % Votes for 1. Party of Regions 32.14 8,148,745 2. Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc 22.29 5,6528,76 3. Our Ukraine bloc 13.95 3,539140 4. Socialist Party 5.69 1,444,224 5. Communist Party 3.66 929,591 6. People's Opposition bloc of Natalia Vitrenko 2.93 743,704 7. People's Bloc of Lytvyn 2.44 619,905 8. Ukrainian People's Bloc of Kostenko and Pliusch 1.87 476,155 9. Viche party 1.74 441,912 10. Pora-ROP Civil Bloc 1.47 373,478 11. NE TAK! Opposition Bloc 1.01 257,106 12. Vidrodzhennia party 0.96 245,188 13. Bloc of Yurii Karmazin 0.65 165,881 14. Party of Greens 0.54 137,858 15. Bloc of People's Democratic Parties 0.49 126,586 16. ECO+25% Ecological Salvation Party 0.47 120,238 17. Green Planet Ukrainian party 0.38 96,734 18. Svoboda all-Ukrainian union 0.36 91,321 19. Peasant Party 0.31 79,160 20. Lazarenko Bloc 0.30 76,950 21. Party of National Economic Development 0.23 60,195 22. For Union! bloc 0.20 51,569 23. Party of Pensioners 0.20 51,097 24. Derzhava-Working Union bloc 0.14 36,396 25. Tretia Syla party 0.13 34,963 26. Narodnyi Rukh of Ukraine for Unity 0.13 34,723 27. Putin's Politics Party 0.12 30,917 28. All-Ukrainian Party of People's Trust 0.11 29,899 29. Ukrainian Party of Honor, Fight Against Corruption and Organized Crime 0.11 28,818 30. Party of Patriotic Forces 0.10 26,553 31. Ukrainian Conservative Party 0.09 25,123 32. Labor Ukraine party 0.09 24,942 33. People's Power bloc 0.09 24,243 34. Union. Chornobyl. Ukraine social ecological party 0.09 23,987 35. Social Christian Party 0.09 22,953 36. Bloc of Borys Oliinyk and Mykhailo Syrota 0.08 21,649 37. Yevhen Marchuk-Yednist bloc 0.06 17,004 38. Ukrainian National Assembly 0.06 16,379 39. Social Protection Party 0.05 14,649 40. Sun Bloc of Non-Partisans 0.04 12,620 41. Nova Syla all-Ukrainian party 0.04 12,522 42. Liberal Party 0.04 12,098 43. European Capital party 0.04 12,027 44. Patriots of Ukraine bloc 0.04 11,503 45. Forward Ukraine! party 0.02 6,934 46. Backed no party or bloc 1.77 449,650

April 10, 2006 - The Central Electoral Commission intends to establish today the final results of this year's parliamentary elections. According to CEC Chairman Yaroslav Davydovych, the CEC is presently establishing the results and collecting the necessary election-result protocols from district election commissions. In particular, the CEC was still to receive three updated election-result protocols from constituencies No. 100 (Kirovohrad region), No. 208, and No. 210 (Chernivtsi region). Davydovych noted that members of the CEC were due to meet on Sunday to discuss the received materials. He stressed that the difference between the official results and the preliminary results would not exceed 0.02%. According to the preliminary results of the March 26 parliamentary elections based on the CEC's count of 100% of the votes, the following political parties and blocs won seats in the parliament: the Party of Regions (32.12% of the votes), the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (22.27%), the Our Ukraine bloc (13.94%), the Socialist Party (5.67%), and the Communist Party (3.66%)

April 10, 2006 - Of 367,822 printed absentee ballots, 16,033 voters received ballot papers for voting in the Verkhovna Rada elections on their absentee documents. Election commissions in 225 election districts in Ukraine and abroad issued 50,508 absentee ballots for voting. In line with election legislation, the number of absentee ballots should be 1% of the total number of voters.

April 7, 2006 - Our Ukraine bloc's Political Council at its April 7 session mandated chairman of the Council, Roman Zvarych and acting Prime Minister Yurii Yekhanurov to negotiate a coalition in the Rada with the Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko and the Socialist Party. The negotiation is scheduled for Monday, April 10. The Our Ukraine's Political Council session also approved the "Protocol of Intentions by Participants in the Coalition of Democratic Forces" that calls for creating a coalition in the newly elected Rada between Our Ukraine, BYT and Socialist Party, and also determines the programming principles for coalition performance. The session was attended by representatives from the parties comprising the Our Ukraine bloc comprised of the Our Ukraine People's Union, Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Christian-Democratic Alliance, Narodnyy Rukh of Ukraine, Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Sobor Ukrainian Republican party, as well as Yurii Yekhanurov, the acting Prime Minister. The Political Council emphasized that this document would provide a framework for further negotiations on a coalition. The document states that the coalition would be based on striving to bring to fruition President Viktor Yuschenko's program aimed to pursue sustainable economic growth, the establishment of civil society, the provision of human rights and liberties, free advancement of the business and support for private initiative, and to ensure that Eurointegration processes are irreversible. The Socialist Party and BYUT refused to sign the protocol, saying its content is a deviation from the previously reached agreements between the parties to coalition negotiations. Today BYUT invited Our Ukraine and the Socialist Party to negotiate a coalition on April 10.

April 6, 2006 - The Party of Regions has elected businessman Rinat Akhmetov to the party's political council and presidium. Akhmetov was elected at the political council meeting, which took place on Tuesday, April 4. The Chairman of the Donetsk regional council Borys Kolesnykov was also elected to the party's presidium.

April 6, 2006 - The Party of Regions has endorsed the principles it will observe in forming a majority coalition in the next Verkhovna Rada. On Tuesday, April 4, a meeting was held of the party's political council where Viktor Yanukovych released a report on the aftermath of the parliamentary elections. The political council endorsed the principles of a coalition agreement the party will offer to its potential partners. The principles are based on the strategy of economic development of the country. The draft agreement determines the methods for economic growth and social protection. In particular, the Party of Regions says it is possible to overcome what it calls the economic crisis and to return the country on the track of economic growth in 2006. The party promises it will secure the rate of growth of wages and pensions, and scholarships will be at least twice as high as the rate of inflation. The party also promises to secure the norm in the Constitution that income of any citizen cannot be lower than the living wage. Moreover, the party confirms Ukraine's international commitments and the continuation of Ukraine's Euro integration course. The party also promises to ensure Ukraine's participation in the formation of the Common Economic Space with Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.

April 6, 2006 - Acting Prime Minister Yurii Yekhanurov, Chairman of the bloc's political council Roman Bezsmertnyi, and bloc leader Yulia Tymoshenko met on Tuesday, April 4, to discuss the creation of a parliamentary coalition. It has been reported that Our Ukraine offered Tymoshenko a draft protocol of intentions with respect to the coalition in the Verkhovna Rada.

April 6, 2006 - Presidential Administration deputy head Anatolii Matvienko announced that President Viktor Yushchenko is again stressing that he is the President of all of Ukraine, and will work with both the coalition and the opposition. The President insisted that the coalition be effective and should be created to meet this responsibility. According to the Preseident, the coalition is being created without administrative pressure, and the creation of the coalition confirms his belief of the honest and democratic elections. Matvienko noted that Yuschenko outlined the principles for creating a coalition by signing a memorandum outlining the coalition's programs, the timetable for implementing the programs, the regulatory mechanism, and its responsibilities. Yuschenko has called on the participants in the future coalition to distribute posts among themselves after coordinating the general principles and tasks of their joint work.

April 5, 2006 - Central Election Commission Chairman Yaroslav Davydovych made the following statement today to the press: Today we have no evidence of falsification organized by any political force. Falsification and violations are two different things because indeed carelessness and violations sometimes occurred during the vote counting and completion of protocols by election commissions. Today we can see only one thing: inaccurate completion of protocols. Furthermore, Davydovych asserted that the Verkhovna Rada passed a legal and just decision on Tuesday when it refused to recount the votes that "The Rada gave the CEC a chance to work in accordance with the law." Currently the CEC is checking the protocols to establish the final results of the vote. Davydovych also noted that the CEC is assailed with complaints and telegrams sent by political forces who insist on the vote recount.

April 5, 2006 - The Central Election Commission has received the originals of election-result protocols from all the 225 district election commissions in the country. CEC Chairman Yaroslav Davydovych said that the CEC returned about 90% of the protocols to district election commissions because they were improperly processed and that some of them have already been returned to the CEC. Davydovych stressed that the improper processing of the protocols did not involve discrepancies in the number of votes cast or ballot papers, but failure to file them carefully in accordance with election legislation. In addition, Davydovych stated that the law on election of deputies that applied on March 26 was very complicated and that not all members of polling-station election commissions were sufficiently prepared to implement it.

April 4, 2006 - The Central Election Commission has received original protocols on the returns of the parliamentary elections from 224 of 225 district election commissions. The Central Election Commission expects to receive the last protocol from district election commission No.29 in Dnipropetrovsk region on the morning of April 4. CEC Chairman Yaroslav Davydovych stated that the CEC set up working groups which were comparing the figures in the original protocols and the electronic copies with regards to the quantity of ballot papers, voters, and votes. He said the working groups had established 0.01% case divergences on 5 subjects of the election process.

April 3, 2006 - The Central Election Commission has received election-result protocols bearing "wet stamps" from 223 of the 225 district election commissions in the country. Today, the CEC expects to receive protocols from the remaining 2 municipal commissions - in Dnipropetrovsk and Mykolaiv regions. The final results of elections to the Verkhovna Rada will be made on the basis of protocols from district election commissions.

March 28, 2006 - The ENEMO European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations says that the voting in the Ukrainian elections met international democratic standards. ENEMO mission head in Ukraine, Peter Novotny, stated at a press conference that these elections proceeded freely and without any serious violations. According to Mr. Novotny, the pre-ballot period proceeded in the atmosphere of free competition, without any pressure both on political parties, blocs or separate groups of voters. Meanwhile, access to the mass media was open to all political forces. In Novotny's opinion, a contrast to the 2004 presidential elections was the absence of a centralized use of administration resource. ENEMO notes organizational problems both at the stage of preparations for the elections and on the voting day, including the absence of some voters on the lists and excessive workload of polling stations as a result of combination of local and parliamentary elections, which caused big queues at polling stations. However, Novotny said, organizational violations did not influence election returns. Proceeding from the experience of monitoring the voting of March 26, ENEMO is recommending the creation of a standing central election register, the adoption of a unified election code, separation of elections to the central, regional and local bodies of power, as well as improvement of financial support for electoral commissions. ENEMO's reports and recommendations are based on the conclusions of 42 long-term monitors who started their work in mid-February in all of Ukraine’s regions, and 389 short-term monitors who came to observe voting day, and who were present at polling stations in all regions.