The Ukraine was in a situation of cohabitation from 2006 until the fall of 2007. In the spring of 2007, the president and the prime minister had a heated political conflict. The directly elected president (Viktor Yushchenko), who himself enjoys a fixed term of office, announced that the parliament would be dissolved (that is, elections would be held at the end of May to elect new members of parliament, which also means a new government). The Prime Minister (Viktor Yanukovych) argued that this dissolution order was not legitimate. The entire matter was then referred to a constitutional court. Based on this information, can you say what type of democratic institutions the Ukraine had at the time?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The Ukraine had a semi-presidential system at the time because it had both a directly elected president (with a fixed term) and a prime minister who headed the government and was responsible to parliament. The political conflict between the two was a symptom of the tension that can arise in semi-presidential systems when the president and prime minister come from different parties and have different mandates. The fact that the matter was referred to a constitutional court also suggests that the Ukraine had a rule of law and independent judiciary as part of its democratic institutions.

The Ukraine Was in a Situation of Cohabitation from 2006