Focus on Ukraine September 27– October 1, 2010
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Democratic initiatives foundation Focus on Ukraine September 27– October 1, 2010 1 Democratic initiatives foundation TABLE OF CONTENTS І. Overviews of political events of the week…………………….…………..…………..…3 II. Analytical Reference………………………….……………………………………...….……….5 Legislation and human rights. Ruling of the Constitutional Court: correction of mistakes or a coup d’etat?…..…………………………..…….…..…...…...…..5 Foreign policy. Ukraine-NATO relations: a period of lost opportunities?………………….….….....…..7 2 Democratic initiatives foundation І. Overviews of political events of the week Scholars and writers appealed to the President of Ukraine and the speaker of September the parliament with a request to not approve the new version of the law “On 27 Language”. They are convinced that if the law is adopted, the Russian language will be granted the status of the second official state language, which contradicts the Constitution. The organizers and participants of the the Haidamaka.UA festival of rebellious and patriotic songs held in Irpen on the outskirts of Kyiv this Sunday were assaulted by nearly two dozen youth with baseball bats. Furthermore, the local police in Irpen did not take any counteractions against the assailants. Leader of the “For Ukraine” party Vyacheslav Kyrylenko described the scuffle in Irpen an act of “political violence”. Press Secretary of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine Yuriy Boichenko informed that the family of the former deceased Minister of Internal Affairs Yuriy Kravchenko, whom Oleksiy Pukach named the senior authority that ordered the murder of journalist Heorhiy Gongadze, insists that the court prove that Pukach is innocent. Leaders of twelve opposition parties of Ukraine signed a letter to the September leadership of the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, 28 the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe, foreign ambassadors in Ukraine and leaders of international organizations in which they expressed their concern about the possibility of non-democratic elections being held in Ukraine. The opposition affirms that the current government plans to apply different vote-rigging methods in the upcoming elections. Despite this, Chair of the Central Election Commission Volodymyr Shapoval resolutely denied the statement of the opposition. A meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Commission at the level of ambassadors September headed by NATO Deputy Secretary General Claudio Bisonero was recently 29 held at the NATO headquarters in Brussels. Head of the Mission of Ukraine to NATO Ihor Dolhov stressed that the Ukrainian side expects that the Alliance will clearly formulate the principles of partnership policies and the immediate expectations of NATO regarding the role and place of Ukraine in the system of Euro-Atlantic security in a new concept. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen invited Ukraine to participate in a summit in Lisbon within the framework of a summit of countries participating in operations in Afghanistan. Rasmussen also emphasized that the doors to the Alliance are open for Ukraine. Besides that, the secretary general said NATO is prepared to include Ukraine, Russia and other European countries in creating an anti-missile defense system. The widow of Yuriy Kravchenko said in an interview for the Segodnya newspaper that she possesses facts that could clear suspicions of her husband’s complicity in the murder of journalist Heorhiy Gongadze. 3 Democratic initiatives foundation However, she refused to specify the facts she possesses. U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Tefft said his country’s government is prepared to finance Ukrainian observers during the local elections, commenting on information that foreign observers of the OSCE and PACE will be present during the elections on October 31. Several dozens of journalists held an act of protest in front of the building of the public reception of the SBU under the banner “Is the SBU gathering information on me?”, submitting inquests with a request to answer whether or not the special service has taken interest in them. A statement by Director of the Institute of Mass Information Viktoria Syumar that SBU officers are allegedly gathering information on her incited this act of protest. SBU Spokesperson Maryna Ostapenko denied any allegations of illegal acts on the part of the law enforcement body. The press service of European Commission President Jose Barroso informed September that the EC will observe the upcoming local elections in Ukraine. 30 The Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine demanded an explanation from Editor-in-Chief of Ukrainska Pravda Olena Prytula for the publication of a resolution on bringing Oleksiy Pukach to criminal responsibility. The PGO was particularly interested the source from which Ukrainska Pravda received this document, in which Yuriy Kravchenko was named the individual who ordered the murder of Heorhiy Gongadze. The PGO is considering filing a criminal case for the disclosure of a secret investigation. The Constitutional Court cancelled the political reforms of 2004. The judges October deemed that the poltical reforms of implemented six years ago violated the 1 procedures of approval. Henceforth, Ukraine will return from a parliamentary- presidential system to a presidential-parliamentary system of governance. This means that the existence of a coalition is no longer compulsory and all decisions will be approved by a standard majority of votes. Now the president, not the coalition, will put forth candidates for the posts of premier and ministers for approval by the parliament. In his address to the Ukrainian people, President Viktor Yanukovych called for improving the Constitution. The president said one of the main mechanisms for achieving this goal is holding a referendum and implementing National Constitutional Reform. Yulia Tymoshenko criticized the decision of the Constitutional Court on the legitimacy of political reforms implemented in 2004. She said this is usurpation of state power. The leader of the BYuT called for holding snap elections of the president and parliament as they were elected under a different Constitution and did not have the powers that the new decision of the CC vests in them. Head of the Our Ukraine Political Council Valentyn Nalyvaichenko informed that his party is launching an active campaign against the adoption of the law on language. He said the passing of the aforementioned law is effectively the start of a war against the Ukrainian people. 4 Democratic initiatives foundation EU Commissioner Stefan Fule told the newspaper Den in an interview that the EU is concerned about the reversal of democracy in Ukraine. The politician said incidents testifying to the worsening of the situation with freedom of speech and political demonstrations have become more frequent. II. Analytical Reference Legislation and human rights RULING OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT: CORRECTION OF MISTAKES OR A COUP D’ETAT? On October 1, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine approved a decision in the constitutional matter filed by 252 members of parliament. In its ruling the CC satisfied the demands of the MPs and deemed the Law of Ukraine № 2222-IV “On Amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine” of December 8, 2004 unconstitutional. This ruling did not come as a surprise to the majority of Ukrainian political analysts, who even before it was passed down warned of the constitutional and legal repercussions of such a ruling. How legally correct was the ruling of the Constitutional Court? What repercussions will the ruling have on the functioning of the Ukrainian system of power? Contents of the ruling The ruling of the Constitutional Court of After this date the provisions in the law Ukraine (CCU) decreed on October 1, 2010 became provisions of the Constitution and contains three main provisions. First of all, were no longer subject to review by the the CCU deemed law № 2222-IV CCU. In other words, the latter can only unconstitutional in connection with the review the compliance of simple laws to the violation of procedural requirements of the Constitution. The CCU stuck to this Verkhovna Rada during its consideration. principle in its ruling of February 5, 2008 in Secondly, the CCU decreed that the which it rejected constitutional based on aforementioned law will lose its effect from such submissions. the day the corresponding ruling was passed In turn, experts believe the provisions that down, meaning October 1. In the end, the law № 2222-IV will lose effect after the CCU obligated bodies of state government corresponding ruling of the CCU contradicts to bring normative and legal acts in simple legal logic. Indeed, if the law is accordance with the 1996 edition of the deemed unconstitutional due to breech of Constitution of Ukraine. procedure in its adoption, it loses its effect All three of the points in the ruling of the from the date it was passed. CCU were harshly criticized by Ukrainian By passing down such a ruling, the CCU legal and political experts. The majority of considerably facilitated the work of the them agree that law № 2222-IV was bodies of state government, seeing as if law approved in breech of procedures, while at № 2222-IV was deemed invalid from the the same time are convinced that this law time it was adopted, all of the most could only have been deemed important institutions of power would have unconstitutional before it took effect, been stripped of their legitimacy and meaning before January