Ukraine's parliament adopted a new law on elections on Thursday, changing the rules ahead of the October 2012 parliamentary election.
Under the new law, supported by both the ruling Party of Regions and a number of opposition MPs, half of 450 deputies will be elected in single-member constituencies while the other half will be voted in through party lists.
Previously, all deputies were elected through party lists.
The new law also raises the representation threshold for political parties running for parliament to five percent from three percent and bars blocs of parties from running.
The new system is likely to reduce the number of parties represented in parliament in favour of major players such as Party of Regions led by President Viktor Yanukovich and opposition party Batkyvshchyna.
At the same time, the affiliation of deputies elected in single-seat constituencies will be harder to predict.
The current parliament is dominated by Yanukovich’s supporters but the Regions’ approval ratings have plummeted in the past months as the government adopted unpopular austerity measures such as raising the retirement age for women.
According to pollster TNS, only 18.4 percent of Ukrainians were ready to vote for Regions in September, down from 40.7 percent in June 2010.
This compared to the 11.9 percent rating of Batkyvshchyna led by former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko who lost the 2010 presidential run-off to Yanukovich and was sentenced to seven years in prison last month on abuse-of-power charges.
Tymoshenko denies any wrongdoing and has described the trial as part of a campaign by Yanukovich aimed at eliminating her as a political opponent.
The only other party which polled above five percent was the Front of Changes, another opposition party, with 7.7 percent.
