Appointment and Dismissal
The Prime Minister is appointed by the President with the consent of Verkhovna Rada. The consent is deemed granted by the parliament when a simple majority of its constitutional membership votes in favour of the candidate nominated by the President. The highest parliamentary approval to this date was received by Yulia Tymoshenko who was appointed the Prime Minister on February 4, 2005 with 373 votes in the Verkhovna Rada. Other prime ministers who received more than 300 votes were Vitold Fokin (332) and Leonid Kuchma (316).
The procedure of granting consent by the parliament is usually preceded by several days of comprehensive consultations and interviews of the candidate by the parliamentary factions. The approval by the legislature is not a mere formality. Some candidates were ratified by a narrow margin and a candidate may be turned down. For instance, in 1999, Valeriy Pustovoitenko fell short of 3 votes to be re-confirmed after he tendered his resignation at the second inauguration of President Leonid Kuchma in 1999. Kuchma chose Viktor Yushchenko as his alternative candidate. Another example is the approval of Yuriy Yekhanurov candidacy (he fell short of 3 votes to get approved and was confirmed on the second attempt 2 days later). When the constitutional reform of late 2004 was still valid (on October 1, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine overturned the 2004 amendments, considering the procedure of their approval unconstitutional), the President was restricted in his choice of the Prime Minister candidacy and was virtually obliged to nominate the person proposed by the parliamentary coalition.
The President may also dismiss any government minister or deputy minister (including the Prime-minister) at any time. At times when the Prime Minister is absent the Cabinet is presided by the First Deputy Prime Minister as an acting Prime Minister.
Prime Minister, as any members of executive branch, can not be a Member of Parliament.
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“Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)