Prime Minister of Ukraine - Dismissal and Resignation

Dismissal and Resignation

The Prime Minister, as well as any other Cabinet member, may resign voluntarily by tendering their resignation to the President. A resignation by the Prime Minister results in the dismissal of the entire Cabinet. After the adoption of the current Constitution (1996), only Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko lost his post this way.

Before the constitutional reform of 2004, the Prime Minister was usually dismissed unilaterally by the President. After the reform, the Prime Minister could only be dismissed by the parliament. Formally, the Verkhovna Rada needed to pass a resolution of no confidence in the Cabinet, which had to result in the PM's resignation. However, the parliament could not put the resolution on vote within one year after the approval of the Cabinet's official programme. The Cabinets of Prime Ministers Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych were dismissed this way with the latter refusing to tender his resignation to the President claiming a violation of the one-year period condition. The Cabinet of Yuriy Yekhanurov had also been formally dismissed, but the parliamentary act was subsequently repealed. After the annulment of the constitutional reform the President once again has the right to dismiss the Prime Minister at any time at his or her own discretion, while the parliament still retains the right to pass a censure motion against the Cabinet which leads to obligatory resignation of the Cabinet.

With each new presidential term, the Prime Minister (and the Cabinet) are obliged to resign. While the Prime Minister does not have a set term limit, he or she stays in office for the duration of the President's term (unless he or she resigns or is dismissed earlier).