Ukraine’s Parliamentary Elections: What Next?

On March 26, Ukraine’s voters elected 450 members to the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, from an array of 45 parties and blocs. Charles Tannock, a British Member of the European Parliament (MEP), who oversaw the Parliament’s election observers, said Ukraine had passed an important test of democracy in an “exemplary” fashion. Now the difficult task of forming a ruling coalition must begin. No matter who is the next prime minister, Washington should continue to support liberalization in Ukraine and the country’s membership in the World Trade Organization and NATO.