Furthermore, before the parliamentary elections in 2007 voters didn’t have access to information about candidates running for Parliament to help them make up their minds. Information on education, background, career, income and property declarations, and expired criminal records. Besides, the law on the Central Election Commission was amended. In particularly, the CEC could be dissolved on the basis of a grounded request from the president of Ukraine. The next elections to Parliament, which took place in 2012, were held with a new law and once again the system was changed. On this occasion the system was a mixed one: a list of 225 MPs in the multi-member nationwide constituency, and 225 via the majoritarian (first past the post) system. The barrier for parties to enter Parliament was set at 5% and blocs (alliances) of parties were forbidden to run. These changes reflected serious changes taking place in Ukraine’s political life: Viktor Yanukovych won the presidential election in 2010, the Party of Regions won a majority in Parliament, the Constitution was changed so that the country became a presidential-parliamentary republic (as it was till 2006), and the leader of the opposition, Yuliia Tymoshenko, was jailed, international experts openly spoke about the fall of democracy in Ukraine, and the country found itself between Iraq and the Israel territories in terms of level of freedom of speech. So, the direct correlation between election laws and leading political forces was once again demonstrated: the law was changed again by the wishes of the strongest party. International experts, independent Ukrainian election observers, and opposition representatives harshly criticized the elections of 2012 due to the presence of rigging. The then president also admitted the elections were held with violations, and passed the case to the Prosecutor’s Office for study. The media spread information about the rather high level of support for President Yanukovych among prisoners and patients of psychiatric hospitals; they were sometimes even higher than overall voting statistics for parties in the regions. Rerun elections were organized in December 2013 in five constituencies due to violations. 2014 was a crucial year for Ukraine. Snap presidential and parliamentary elections were held; they changed the mix of the political elite. The main election law wasn’t really changed, although there were discussions about giving political blocs the right to take part in elections, and about moving to a proportional electoral system. However, changes to the Constitution were canceled and Ukraine became Parliamentary republic again. .
2014 was a crucial year for Ukraine: it became Parliament republic again Reform of electoral Legislation
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