Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the 8th convocation
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Seat composition of the 8th Verkhovna Rada
Overview
Meeting place	Verkhovna Rada building
Term	27 November 2014 (2014-11-27) – 29 August 2019 (2019-08-29)
Election	2014 parliamentary election
Website	iportal.rada.gov.ua
Members	423 / 450 (since December 9, 2014)
Chairman	Volodymyr Groysman Andriy Parubiy
First Deputy	Andriy Parubiy Iryna Herashchenko
Deputy	Oksana Syroyid
Party control	Coalition

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the 8th convocation (Ukrainian: Верховна Рада України VIII скликання, Verkhovna Rada Ukrayiny VIII sklykannia) was a convocation of the legislative branch of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's unicameral parliament. The 8th convocation met at the Verkhovna Rada building in Kyiv, having begun its term on 27 November 2014 following the last session of the 7th Verkhovna Rada. Its five-year term came to an end on July 24, 2019, marking the end of its tenth session.^[1]

The 8th Verkhovna Rada's composition was based upon the results of the October 26, 2014 parliamentary election,^[2] which was contested eight months after the 2014 Ukrainian revolution which saw the overthrow of the Yanukovych regime. Ukraine's head of state during the parliament's term is President Petro Poroshenko. Eleven parties were represented in the Verkhovna Rada, although only six of them surpassed the mandatory five percent election threshold to gain representation based upon the proportional representation system.

On the first day of the parliament's session, five of the parliament's pro-European parties, the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, People's Front, Self Reliance, Fatherland, and Radical Party, signed a coalition agreement. Per the coalition agreement, the convocation of parliament was tasked with passing major reforms to ensure Ukrainian membership in European institutions such as the European Union and NATO, while dealing with the threat of further Russian aggression in the Donbass.

President Volodomyr Zelensky dissolved the 8th Verkovna Rada on 21 May 2019.^[3]

Post-election developments

Prior to the parliament's official swearing-in ceremony, Volodymyr Groisman was the chairman of the parliament's preparatory deputy group, with Oksana Syroyid as deputy, and Pavlo Pynzenyk as the secretary.^[4] Two deputies, Vitali Klitschko, and Ihor Palytsia rejected their parliamentary mandates to remain in office as Mayor of Kyiv and Governor of Odesa Oblast, respectfully.^[5] Meanwhile, the parliament's preparatory deputy group adopted a resolution which accepted Nadiya Savchenko's handwritten letter stating that she accepted her parliamentary mandate. Savchenko was held captive by the Russian government from June 2014 until May 2016, after being abducted during the pro-Russian unrest.^[6]

A total of 27 constituencies were not elected due to various events taking place in the country. A total of 10 constituencies in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and two in the City of Sevastopol were not elected due to the 2014 Crimean crisis and subsequent annexation of Crimea by Russia, while a further nine constituencies in Donetsk Oblast and six constituencies in Luhansk Oblast were not elected due to the ongoing War in Donbass. Elections in these regions can only take place after the re-introduction of Ukrainian control over these territories.

Major legislation

• November 27, 2014: Arseniy Yatsenyuk is confirmed as Prime Minister for a second term with 341 votes in favor.^[7][8]
• December 2, 2014: The second Yatsenyuk government is approved with 288 votes in favor.^[9]
• December 23, 2014: Ukraine's status as that of a neutral country, one of the coalition's key points of action, is removed with 303 votes in favor.^[10]
• December 25, 2014: The National Security and Defense Council's jurisdiction and authority is expanded with 316 votes in favor.^[11]
• December 29, 2014: Along with a collection of other economic policy laws, the 2015 Ukraine budget is approved with 233 votes in favor.^[12]

Leadership

Leadership (November 2014 – April 2016)

On November 27, 2014, the parliament elected Volodymyr Groysman from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc as the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada.^[13] The parliament's chairman, first deputy chairman, and deputy chairman are all unaffiliated people's deputies according to parliamentary procedure. Oksana Syroyid is the first woman to ever hold a deputy chairman position in the Verkhovna Rada.^[14]

Volodymyr Groysman (from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc) worked as Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk (from the People's Front) was re-appointed as Prime Minister with 341 votes.

Leadership (April 2016 – July 2019)

Members

Since November 28, 2014, the 8th Verkhovna Rada consists of a total of 420 people's deputies, which belong to one of six political party factions, two parliamentary groups, or the 38 unaffiliated people's deputies.^[18] For the first time in Ukrainian history, the Communist Party has failed to gain representation in the Verkhovna Rada.^[19]

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform (UDAR), which had 40 seats in the previous parliament's convocation, did not participate in the election independently. For the 2014 parliamentary election, UDAR merged their electoral lists with that of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, being allocated 30 percent of bloc's electoral list.^[20]

A large portion of the 8th Verkhovna Rada are freshman people's deputies who did not have any prior legislative service.^[21] This convocation of parliament also has the largest representation of women in the Ukrainian parliament for the first time in history. While the women participation rate in parliament is lower than the 25.3 percent average of the OSCE member states,^[22] 49 of the deputies in parliament are women (approximately 12 percent).^[21]

Out of the newly elected deputies, 410 of them possess an academic degree; a further 144 deputies possess two or more such degrees.^[21] Fifty-four deputies are currently candidates for doctoral sciences, while 27 of them already possess a doctoral degree.^[21] The oldest member of parliament is the Opposition Bloc's Yukhym Zvyahilsky, who was elected from a constituency seat in northern Donetsk.

Parliamentary factions and deputy groups summary

Bold indicates majority caucus.

	(Shading indicates majority caucus)									Total	Vacant
	Petro Poroshenko Bloc	People's Front	Opposition Bloc	Self Reliance	Radical Party	Fatherland	Revival[a 1]	People's Will[a 2][a 3]	Non-affiliated[a 4]
End of previous convocation	DNP[a 5]	DNP[a 6]	DNP[a 7]	DNP	1	86	41	35	93	445	5
Seats won in 2014 election[23]	132	82	29	33	22	19	DNP	DNP	96	423	27
November 27, 2014 (first session)[31][27]	145	83	40	32			19	20	38	418	32
December 2, 2014[32][27]	147									420	30
February 5, 2015[27]	150	82		31	21			18	42	422	28
June 24, 2015[27]	144	81	43				22	19		422	28
October 22, 2015[27]	142			26				20	48	422	28
February 13, 2016[27]	136						23		53	422	28
April 11, 2016[27]	141								47	422	28
April 12, 2016[27]	145[a 8]							19	44	422	28
July 19, 2016[27]	142								42	422	28
September 21, 2016[27]	143					21			46	422	28
December 23, 2016[27][34]	142					20	24	18	48	422	28
September 10, 2017[27]	138						20	17	51	422	28
July 31, 2017[27]	135			25			24	19	55	422	28
November 22, 2018[27]	135		38						60	422	28
Latest voting share	32.7%	19.2%	10.2%	6.2%	4.7%	4.7%	6.2%	4.0%	12.1%	93.8%	6.2%
^ Revival was briefly called Economic Development in 2014. It was also a parliamentary group like People's Will until 2015. ^ People's Will is a parliamentary group. Parliamentary groups consist of non-partisan deputies or representatives of parties that did not overcome election threshold (i.e. Svoboda, Strong Ukraine, etc.). ^ The People's Will deputy group in previous convocation was known as Sovereign European Ukraine. ^ Parties that did not pass the 5% threshold of the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Svoboda (7 seats), Right Sector (1 seat), Strong Ukraine (1 seat), Volia (1 seat), and Zastup (1 seat) are part of non-affiliated.[23] After the 17 July 2016 constituency mid-term elections the parties UKROP and Our Land joined them.[24] ^ 30% of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc election list was filled by members of the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform (UDAR), which did not participate in the 2014 election independently. UDAR participated in the 2012 election, consisting of a faction of 41 deputies in the previous convocation.[25][26][27] ^ People's Front is a September 2014 split off from Fatherland; many current members of the People's Front were members of the Fatherland faction of the previous convocation.[28][29] ^ The Opposition Bloc consists mainly of former members of former President Yanukovych's Party of Regions,[30] which formed the largest caucus after the 2012 election with 185 deputies, although after the removal of Yanukovych and the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, the caucus consisted of only 78 members. ^ The addition of these four deputies made it possible for Petro Poroshenko Bloc and People's Front to form a government without additional parties.[33]

Coalition

On November 21, 2014, the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, People's Front, Self Reliance, Fatherland, and Radical Party signed a coalition agreement.^[35] The coalition consists of a total of 302 deputies, which is more than the constitutional majority required by the constitution. The coalition agreement prioritized on a number of key points, namely:^[36][37]

Meanwhile, the parliamentary opposition consists of the Opposition Bloc faction, People's Will, and Revival. The Opposition Bloc represents politicians from the Party of Regions, which formed the Second Azarov Government and the majority caucus in parliament after the 2012 elections.

On May 17, 2019, People's Front exited the ruling coalition in order to prevent the incoming President from dissolving the parliament ahead of schedule.^[38][39]

Committees

On December 4, 2014, the Verkhovna Rada approved the composition of its 27 committees and one special control commission.^[40][41] On December 11, 2014, parliament voted in favor of recalling all of the deputies who voted for the January 16 "dictatorship laws" of the previous convocation from their positions in committee leadership. Deputy Chairman Oksana Syroyid proposed this measure, which was adopted with 264 votes in favor.^[42]

Calls for reform

On December 11, 2014, the Yatsenyuk Government presented its course of action for the following year. It was proposed that the number of deputies in parliament be decreased to 150. According to estimates, adopting such a constitutional amendment would save ₴424 million annually (approx. US$26 million).^[43] As part of a separate reform effort, the governing coalition proposed removing parliamentary immunity for deputies.

In the Verkhovna Rada, impersonal voting (referred to as button pushing, from the Ukrainian: "кнопкодавство") has been a serious problem in parliament for many years. The deputies of the current convocation to vote impersonally have already been recognized less than a week into parliament's first session.^[44] Members of the nationalist Svoboda political party, which was elected into the parliament's previous convocation, proposed making deputies criminally liable for impersonal voting and banning them from holding any future parliamentary mandates.^[45] Members from the coalition's Petro Poroshenko Bloc have also recognized the need to ban impersonal voting.^[46][47]