Translated material
Dirt for compromise
Ukrainian security forces expose judges
Today, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine will begin hearings on the legality of the presidential decree of April 2 dissolving parliament and holding early elections on May 27. The Rada expects that Yushchenko's decree will be considered in two weeks.Yesterday acting The head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Valentin Nalyvaichenko, released information that casts a shadow on the reputation of Constitutional Court judge Suzanne Stanik, who is speaking today as a rapporteur in the case of the presidential decree. The SBU allegedly established the fact of the transfer of real estate and other property worth $12 million to a relative of Ms. Stanik. The judge replied that the charges were fabricated and so the head of the SBU wanted to disrupt the court hearing scheduled for today.
The SBU also announced the opening of a case based on a statement filed on April 10 by five judges of the Constitutional Court about pressure on them and their loved ones . In the car of a relative of one of the judges, unknown attackers unscrewed the nuts on all four wheels, which “could have led to unpredictable consequences,” Mr. Nalyvaichenko said.
The SBU statement indicates the growing role of security forces in political battles. Viktor Yushchenko instructed the heads of law enforcement agencies to “clearly and effectively ensure order and legality in the country” when implementing the decree on the dissolution of the Rada, in particular, to restore order in the courts that declared the presidential decree illegal. Yesterday, the presidential party “Our Ukraine” at its congress included Defense Minister Anatoly Gritsenko on the electoral list for early elections. “This will be our pride,” Ukrainian media quote Arsen Avakov, governor of the Kharkov region. True, Gritsenko himself has not yet confirmed that he will participate in the elections. According to Ukrainian law, security forces must not be members of political parties.
On the eve of today's meeting of the Constitutional Court, Viktor Yushchenko demonstrated his readiness to compromise. On the one hand, he firmly confirmed that he would not deviate from the decree on the dissolution of the Rada - this is “a dogma, a position that is not subject to revision.” At the same time, he is ready to come to an agreement with the Rada and with Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and “push back the election date.”
The president promises the ruling coalition to make amendments to the laws on elections and deputy status in exchange for support of important laws for the “orange” on the opposition and an imperative mandate depriving deputies of the right to defect to another faction. The president also insists on creating a constitutional commission to correct the basic law - he wants the right to independently appoint the ministers of defense and foreign affairs to be returned to him. During the negotiations, the president proposes to impose a moratorium on protests that “could aggravate the situation in the state.”
Yesterday, the presidential representative in the Rada, Roman Zvarich, said that the elections could be postponed from May 27 to the end of June - beginning of July. “This is holiday time when voter turnout will be very low. Postponing the election date to this period is hardly possible,” Ukrainian political scientist Viktor Nebozhenko commented to Vremya Novostey. “Most likely, the president will agree to postpone the elections until the fall in exchange for concessions from the Rada and the government.” The head of the Ukrainian Institute of Global Strategies, Vadim Karasev, told our newspaper that for Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, “it is optimal to hold early elections in the fall, since by this time three waves of increases in social payments will have passed,” which will raise the rating of the Party of Regions.