FEATURES OF THE FORMATION OF GOVERNMENTS IN UKRAINE AND THE BALTIC COUNTRIES (1991–2004): POLITICAL AND LEGAL ASPECT

Abstract

This article reflects the peculiarities of the formation of governments in Ukraine and the Baltic states in the first period of their independence. This article shows the appointment of prime ministers who headed the governments in the countries mentioned. Particular attention is paid to the political and legal component of the appointment of the prime minister and the composition of the government. The article notes that it was in the constitutions adopted by the independent states that the mechanisms for the formation of governments and their functions and responsibilities were defined. It was in the constitutions adopted by the parliaments that the systems of power balances were contained, according to which the form of state government is determined. If Estonia and Latvia chose a parliamentary form of government for their political system, Ukraine and Lithuania have a mixed form of government. At the same time, the Baltic countries, after declaring the restoration of the independence of their states, immediately laid down such a form of government in their new constitutions, while Ukraine did it much later in its Basic Law. Ukrainians have gone through a certain evolution in their creation of a constitutional model, because the first term of the parliament could not adopt it. Only the second convocation of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, in cooperation with the elected president, was able to find a compromise and approve the Basic Law, which defined the specifics of the formation, functioning and subordination of the government. After this mechanism was clearly enshrined in the constitutions of these states, the appointment and removal of both the prime ministers themselves and the entire government took place. In addition to the institutional component in the legal field of these states regarding the formation and removal of governments, the political component played an important role. After all, it was after the election of parliaments and the formation of majorities in them in the form of coalitions of political factions that made it possible to form governments in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. In Ukraine, the government vertical, after the adoption of the Constitution, was appointed by the president, although with the consent of the parliament regarding the appointment of the Prime Minister. The parliament in Ukraine did not have the same influence over the government as the president, so the elections to the Verkhovna Rada did not affect its composition and functioning. The article reflects the appointments and terms of stay of the heads of government in each of the specified states during the specified period.