Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada

Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada
Verkhovna Rada · CC BY 4.0 · source
Post	Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada
Body	Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
Native name	Голова Верховної Ради
Incumbent	Ruslan Stefanchuk
Incumbentsince	8 October 2021
Style	Mr. Speaker
Appointer	Verkhovna Rada
Formation	1991
Inaugural	Ivan Plyushch

Contents

Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada is the presiding officer of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, charged with chairing plenary sessions, representing the parliament in relations with the President of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, and foreign bodies such as the European Parliament, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and the United Nations General Assembly. The office has roots in the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR and interacts with institutions including the Constitution of Ukraine, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, and the Central Election Commission of Ukraine. Holders have included figures affiliated with parties such as Servant of the People, Batkivshchyna, Party of Regions, Our Ukraine, and Holos (political party).

Role and responsibilities

The Speaker presides over sessions of the Verkhovna Rada, enforces rules derived from the Regulations of the Verkhovna Rada, schedules agendas in coordination with faction leaders like Yulia Tymoshenko, Viktor Yanukovych, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy sympathizers, and signs acts adopted by the chamber for transmission to the President of Ukraine and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. The Speaker oversees administrative bodies such as the Apparatus of the Verkhovna Rada, manages relations with foreign parliaments including the Bundestag, the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and the Congress of the United States, and represents the Rada in constitutional processes involving the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and the Supreme Court of Ukraine.

The Speaker is elected by secret ballot of deputies of the Verkhovna Rada after each convocation, as established by the Constitution of Ukraine and the Regulations of the Verkhovna Rada. Candidates are typically proposed by factions such as Opposition Platform — For Life, European Solidarity, and Servant of the People, with support negotiated among group leaders including Artemi Observers, Petro Poroshenko, and Dmytro Razumkov. Election procedures have been influenced by events like the Orange Revolution and the Euromaidan (2013–2014) protests, and by laws amended following the Revolution of Dignity.

Statutory powers include presiding over sessions, forming standing committees in conjunction with committee chairs such as the Committee on European Integration, allocating speaking time, and certifying deputies' mandates together with the Central Election Commission of Ukraine. In the event of vacancy or incapacity of the President of Ukraine, the Constitution specifies succession protocols involving the Speaker and the Prime Minister of Ukraine, as occurred in constitutional discussions during the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election crisis and the 2014 Ukrainian revolution. The Speaker participates in interbranch coordination with the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine and interacts with international organizations like the Council of Europe.

The lineage traces from chairmen of the Central Executive Committee of the Ukrainian SSR through chairs of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR to post-1991 Speakers of the Verkhovna Rada. Notable predecessors include Ivan Plyushch, Oleksandr Moroz, Volodymyr Lytvyn, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Vladimir Rybak (politician), and Andriy Parubiy. The office has reflected political shifts during milestones such as Ukraine's declaration of independence (1991), the Holodomor debates, the Crimean crisis (2014), and the Russo-Ukrainian War.

Speakers have been central in controversies involving impeachment initiatives against presidents like Leonid Kuchma and Viktor Yanukovych, parliamentary confrontations during sessions with figures such as Oleksandr Turchynov and Yuriy Lutsenko, and disputes over language laws involving the Law on State Language (Ukraine). Other contentious episodes involved alleged ties to oligarchs like Rinat Akhmetov and Ihor Kolomoisky, clashes between factions including Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko and Party of Regions, and parliamentary maneuvers during crises such as the 2004 Orange Revolution and the Euromaidan (2013–2014). Internationally, some Speakers engaged with the European People's Party, the Socialist International, and the Inter-Parliamentary Union, generating diplomatic reactions from actors like Vladimir Putin and institutions such as the European Union.

The Speaker maintains institutional links with the President of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, and judicial bodies including the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and the Supreme Court of Ukraine, and coordinates with oversight agencies like the National Agency on Corruption Prevention and the State Fiscal Service. Legislative cooperation involves interactions with faction leaders from Servant of the People, Opposition Platform — For Life, and European Solidarity, as well as with committee chairs on matters of foreign policy regarding the European Union Association Agreement, NATO–Ukraine relations, and sanctions related to the Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation. The Speaker also engages with parliamentary diplomacy through delegations to the Parliament of Canada, the Sejm, and assemblies of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

Category:Politics of Ukraine Category:Verkhovna Rada