Rada sets parliamentary elections for 2012, presidential vote for 2015

The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s 450-seat unicameral parliament, passed an amendment to the Constitution yesterday that set the next parliamentary election for October 2012 and presidential election for March 2015. The amendment follows an October 2010 ruling by the Constitutional Court that threw out 2004 amendments to the Constitution and reinstated Ukraine’s 1996 Constitution, which foresees only a four-year term for MPs. The current parliament was elected in 2007 to a five-year term. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s current president, Viktor Yanukovych, was inaugurated on February 25, 2010. Brad Wells: The Rada decision was widely expected and clears the political calendar of a major nationwide election in 2011, bolstering promises of relative stability from politicians and paving the way for the government to focus on its ambitious reform agenda. Issues due to be tackled this year include what are likely to be unpopular proposals to make over the pension system (including raising the retirement age for women) and stabilizing Naftogaz of Ukraine (including via a 50% hike in gas prices for households and utilities). See our politics note released yesterday for more details on expected reforms. The opposition, meanwhile, gained another chip, painting the move as MPs from the parliamentary majority usurping control by extending their terms in office by another year.