The public opinion poll on the treshold of the election

The Party of Regions (PR) would become the top political organization in Ukraine’s Supreme Council, according to a poll by the Taras Shevchenko Political and Sociological Studies Institute. 26 per cent of respondents would support the party led by former PM Viktor Yanukovich in this month’s parliamentary election, Angus-Reid reported. .

The Yulia Timoshenko Bloc—which includes the Batkivshchina (Fatherland) Party of former prime minister Yulia Timoshenko—is second with 22 per cent, followed by the People’s Union-Our Ukraine (NS-NU) coalition of current president Viktor Yushchenko with 16.7 per cent, the Popular Bloc My (We) of speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn and the Socialist Party of Ukraine (SPU) with 6.3 per cent each, and the Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU) with 4.9 per cent.

Ukrainian voters are set to renew their legislative branch on Mar. 26. In the 2002 ballot, Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine (NU) bloc received 23.6 per cent of the vote and elected 112 members to the 450-seat legislative branch. Parties require at least three per cent of the vote to qualify for proportional representation seats in the Supreme Council.

Yushchenko won the December 2004 presidential election, with 51.99 per cent of the vote in an unprecedented third round against Yanukovich. Last September, Yushchenko sacked his entire cabinet, substituting Timoshenko with Dnipropetrovsk governor Yuri Yekhanurov.

On Mar. 4, Yanukovich accused the government of planning a fraudulent election, declaring, "The orange team can only remain in power through massive falsifications, and this is what they are doing." NS-NU official Borys Bespaly categorized Yanukovich’s accusations as a "loser’s poor fantasy" and "nothing but an attempt to attract attention."

For the first time, the members of the Supreme Council—and not the president—will name the country’s prime minister. 31.2 per cent of respondents say they would prefer Timoshenko in the position. Yanukovich is second with 26.1 per cent, followed by Yekhanurov with 5.3 per cent, SPU leader Oleksandr Moroz with 4.1 per cent, and Lytvyn with 3.3 per cent

Polling Data

Which party would you vote for in the next parliamentary election?

Who would you prefer as prime minister?

Source: Taras Shevchenko Political and Sociological Studies Institute
Methodology: Interviews with 2,017 Ukrainian adults, conducted from Feb. 27 to Mar. 1, 2006. No margin of error was provided.