Elderberry and guys

Viktor Yushchenko promised Vremya Novostei to fix the constitutional reform

Yesterday, President Viktor Yushchenko met with representatives of foreign media to sum up the results of 2006. He called the main thing “the foundation of a new political tradition,” the essence of which boils down to the establishment of “real democracy” and “the constancy of foreign policy priorities.” For almost the first time in Ukrainian history, truly independent parliamentary elections took place, a parliamentary coalition and government were formed, which prevented a “schism.” The economy has improved sharply, with foreign investment rising to $3.5 million in 2006, almost seven times the annual rate of the previous ten years. GDP growth will be about 7% this year.

But there is also bad news. In Ukraine, tension remains between the main institutions of government due to the imperfect constitutional reform of 2004. The president promised to “continue constitutional reform using all available key methods.” The president’s relationship with the prime minister “has become more conflictual on a number of issues,” Viktor Yushchenko admitted: “It seems to me that this style was introduced by the position of the prime minister.” The president himself “has never heard the word “no” from the prime minister,” and therefore he is surprised that some government positions are “somewhat inconsistent” with bilateral agreements.

Answering a question from Vremya Novostey about whether the constitutional court can cancel an inconvenient constitutional reform, the President of Ukraine gave a positive answer. “Few people deny the need to improve constitutional reform,” since otherwise “the country could lose prospects for democratic development” and slide into authoritarianism. According to him, the situation in the country is abnormal due to the “war of decrees and regulations.” Just like two years ago, Ukraine “lives depending on the mood of one person,” only if earlier “this person got up in the morning on Bankova (the administration of ex-President Leonid Kuchma was located on this street. - Ed. ), now on Grushevsky ( the cabinet of ministers is located there. - Ed. ) According to Mr. Yushchenko, “this did not increase tranquility,” since “the parliament has become more dependent,” which is “deprived of many democratic freedoms as a result of this type of relationship.”

The President sees two ways to resolve the situation - compromise and confrontation. The first involves the “formation of a constitutional commission” for a dialogue of political forces at a round table in order to consolidate changes “within the existing legal procedure.” The second is the submission to the constitutional court of a submission from one or more political forces “about violation of the time frame during the formation of the government or the legal procedure when amending the constitution,” which could lead to a revision of the constitutional reform or the resignation of the government. “I remain a supporter of the first option,” the President of Ukraine told Vremya Novostey.

The president also told Vremya Novostey that when Viktor Yanukovych was appointed prime minister, he had no agreements regarding the latter’s refusal to participate in the next presidential elections. “I have never had an agreement with anyone” that “someone will sit under the elderberry tree,” Mr. Yushchenko said. The president is not interested in “personal agreements in any context” regarding the next elections - there the “decisive players” will be “not politicians, but the people.”

Viktor Yushchenko also touched upon the issue of Vladimir Putin’s visit to Ukraine on December 22. One of the central topics at the negotiations will be prices for Russian gas . The Ukrainian leader said that he is dissatisfied not so much with the gas price for 2007, but with the fact that the formula for its formation has not been determined, which leaves a wide field for ambiguous interpretations. In addition, the head of state expressed dissatisfaction with the government, which, having agreed to the revision of the price of gas, did not raise the issue of simultaneously increasing the cost of gas transit through Ukraine, although these topics have been considered in conjunction since the early 1990s. The President also said that he is not going to dismiss Foreign Minister Boris Tarasyuk on the eve of Putin’s visit, since he considers the Rada’s resolution to dismiss the minister illegal.

Svetlana STEPANENKO, Kyiv