The President promised that changes to the Constitution will pass through parliament

Yesterday, the Presidential Secretariat unveiled a plan for constitutional reform, according to which changes to the Constitution will be approved by parliament. Meanwhile, the Party of Regions (PR) does not believe that the president has abandoned the idea of adopting a fundamental law in a referendum. The PR notes that they will not support the presidential project, which reduces to zero the likelihood of its adoption by the current convocation of the Rada.

The tentative procedure for carrying out constitutional reform was announced yesterday at a briefing at the Presidential Secretariat (SP) by Deputy Head of the SP Marina Stavniychuk. According to her, on April 23, the National Constitutional Council (NCC) under the president will approve the draft concept of amendments to the Constitution. In the second or third decade of May, after receiving the conclusions of the Venice Commission, this concept should be finally approved, after which a bill to amend the Constitution will be drawn up and submitted to parliament.

The deputy head of the joint venture expressed the wish that the Verkhovna Rada consider this bill in the first reading in June-July. “Thus, the Constitutional Court will be given work for the summer (the draft amendments, after being adopted in the first reading, must undergo an examination by the Constitutional Court. - Kommersant). And at the next session it will be possible to consider changes to the Constitution in the second reading,” she said.

Ms. Stavniychuk's statement indicates a change in the president's policy regarding constitutional reform. Previously, Viktor Yushchenko advocated the approval of the Constitution in an all-Ukrainian referendum, that is, bypassing the procedure provided for by the current version of the basic law. Representatives of the joint venture explained that this is possible, since we are not talking about making “changes” to the current Constitution, but about its “new edition.” It is noteworthy that Parliament Speaker Arseniy Yatsenyuk promised yesterday that the reform would be carried out in compliance with the established procedure. “The adoption of the Constitution outside parliament will not be legitimate. Therefore, any fears that it will be adopted through a referendum, a poll, or God knows what else are unfounded,” he said.

It should be noted that the procedure for approving amendments to the Constitution was considered the most controversial issue of constitutional reform. In particular, the Party of Regions, which left the NCC, argued its decision by disagreeing with the position of the head of state. However, yesterday’s statement by Ms. Stavniychuk did not resolve the conflict - the PR does not intend to resume participation in the work of the NCC. “I don’t think that Marina Stavniychuk can reconsider the current position of the president. And I have not heard any statements from Viktor Yushchenko that he is abandoning the idea of adopting the Constitution in a referendum,” People’s Deputy Alexander Lavrinovich (PR) told Kommersant.

Mr. Lavrynovych noted that his faction will not support the project developed by the NCC, even if the president introduces it to the Rada. “Parliament should become the center for reforming the Constitution, and for this purpose a special commission should be created in parliament,” he emphasized. The categorical nature of the PR on this issue makes it impossible for the Rada to adopt the draft constitutional reform developed by the NCC. The existing mechanism for amending the Constitution provides that in the second reading this bill must be supported by at least 300 deputies. Without the support of the Party of Regions, it is impossible to collect such a number of votes in the Rada of the 6th convocation.

Sergey Kommersant-Sidorenko

The people are deprived of the right to vote