Putting out Fire with gasoline Yushchenko’s Constitutional Reforms Anti Democratic

Viktor Yushchenko continues to push for his Constitutional reform.

If implemented it would spell the end to Ukraine as a democratic state. Instead of being a democracy Ukraine would become a Presidential autocracy.

Holding an open public debate where Yushchenko’s version of constitutioanl reform is the only item up for discussion is not the way to go about seeking reform

Yushchenko can not legally change Ukraine’s Constitution without the support of the Parliament.

Ukraine’s Constitution can not be amended before the next Presidential election. 

The Parliament is the only body that can amend Ukraine’s Constitution.

In accordance with Chapter XIII: Ukraine’s Constitution can only be amended with the consent of no less than two-thirds of the constitutional composition of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

In addition amendments to Chapter I — “General Principles,” Chapter III — “Elections. Referendum,” and Chapter XIII — “Introducing Amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine,” can only be amended by the parliament of Ukraine on the condition that it is also approved by an All-Ukrainian referendum designated by the President of Ukraine.

Any proposed Constitutional amendment also requires review by Ukraine’s Constitutional Court and can only be finally agreed to at the next regular session of the Parliament following the date in which the Parliament first gave its consent. The next regular session is not until February 2010 and it is highly unlikely that Ukraine’s Parliament will agree to any amendments prior to the Presidential elections in January 2010. The earliest any reforms can be considered would be September next year . So what’s the rush and should there not be other alternative options?

Yushchenko knows he can not change the Constitution without the support of the parliament. So why is he pushing his reform package? The reason is simple Yushchenko hopes to sell the notion that his proposed Constitutional reforms are the solution to Ukraine’s problems. They are not.

Yushchenko versus Yatseniuk

Yushchenko currently has less then 4% support. His main rival at this stage is Arseniy Yatseniuk, Yushchenko needs to boost his support to such an extent that he can match or prevail on Yatseniuk to withdraw from the race. Yushchenko hopes that Yatseniuk’s support will transfer across and that the combined vote will put him ahead Yulia Tymoshenko and progress into the final face-off against Yanukovych.

As long as Yatseniuk and Yushchenko run against each other neither will progress to the final second ballot. Each one can only survive if the other withdraws.

Parliament versus President

Yushchenko seeks to play off the Parliament against the President in the hope that he will attract enough support from those who want to see Ukraine have a strong President. The problem is Yushchenko is not a strong President and he will most likely not be elected to enjoy the powers he now seeks. The powers he advocates will be invested in who ever wins the 2010 election.

So Yushchenko is playing a game of Russian roulette and he is hoping that the battle between the President and the Parliament will set him aside and give him a lift up. It’s a big gamble and one that is built of straw. This strategy requires the country to come close to breaking point and the people of Ukraine being fooled into thinking that Yushchenko’s proposed reforms are the solution to Ukraine’s problems.

Proposed reform would exacerbate the problems and divisions in Ukraine. 

If anything Yushchenko’s proposed reform would exacerbate the problems and divisions in Ukraine. Yushchenko’s reforms are not democratic and will not resolve the conflict and divisions between the Office of the President and then Parliament. If implemented they would bring Ukraine to closer to breaking point and eventually possible civil war.

Presidential autocracy versus democracy

Yushchenko wants Ukraine to take a backward step and become a Presidential autocracy where the President would have absolute power and absolute control. the president would have absolute power over the courts, the government and the parliament. The parliament would have limited authority and if it is not to the President’s liking he can dismiss the parliament without limitation or just cause.

Yushchenko’s undemocratic Senate

Yushchenko’s proposed senate is the only safeguard but it will not be a democratic. The Senate has an inbuilt bias towards Western Ukraine at the expense of Eastern and Southern Ukraine. The Senate’s mandate will be based on Ukraine’s regional Oblasts with each Senatorial region electing the same number of Senators. Zakapattia with just over 300,000 constituents will elect three senators the same as Donetsk with 2.6 million constituents. The undemocratic representation will create cause for resentment not unity.

Yushchenko’s Senate can not be held accountable as it can not be dismissed. One third of the Senate will face election every two years with the same set of voters electing all three Senators by a first-past-the-post voting system. It is easy to see resentment escalating to the point where the system will be denounced outright by Eastern and Southern Ukraine who will feel cheated and denied a fair equal right of representation.

President’s impeachment impossible

The fairness of the proposed senate is further diminished by the fact that the senate is the only body that can seek to impeach the president, made even harder by the requirement that the President can only be impeached if found to have intentionally committed a crime. Given that the President holds absolute immunity the chances of the President being convicted of a crime is virtually impossible short of determined civil unrest and a peoples uprising.

Yushchenko’s President would have more power then the Russian Tsar.

More discussion http://ukraineccu.wordpress.com

Parent’s faithful quest in finding missing sister "Vera"

US adoptive parents Robert and Maryann DeSimone, from Huntington, N.Y, have embarked on a mission to find the missing sister of three Ukrainian children they adopted. The children’s mother died whilst giving birth to Vera, the missing child. The DeSimone’s want to find out what happened to Vera in the hope of putting the family back in touch.

We can not help but feel for the DeSimone family who want to keep the family and sisters together, a noble cause.

The challenge now is for Ukraine’s political elite to help the DeSimone’s in their quest for closure.

Yushchenko Embarks on Kamikaze Economic Destruction mission

Yushchenko continues to misuse and abuse his power.

Ukraine’s embattled President, Viktor Yushchenko, is once again, planning to undermine Ukraine’s economic stability in threatening to block supply by rejecting Ukraine’s budget.

Embarking on a political suicide mission to destroy Ukraine’s economic stability, Yushchenko hopes to gain some cheap political advantage in the false hope that  Ukraine’s suffering will help Yushchenko resurrect his prospects of securing a second term in office.  Yushchenko’s support rating is less then  4% and he is expected to lose in the first round ballot scheduled to be held on January 17, 2010.

Many western democracies have removed or seriously limited the Head of State’s ability to block supply.

Yushchenko Poisons Chemical Sale Catalyst for Causing Negative Reaction

All care no responsibility


Ukraine’s embattled President, Viktor Yushchenko, having just days before the close of the tender undermined the success of for the sale of the Odesa-Port-Side Chemical Plant now turns around and tries to shift the blame for the implosion on to the government. Yushchenko’s aim was to stabilise Ukraine’s economy in the lead up to the Presidential election. Having failed to reach its reserve of 2 billion dollars, the chemical plant will be relisted for tender following the Presidential election scheduled for January 17, 2010. With Yushchenko neutralized
and out of the way Ukraine’s economic recover should be in a more stabilised situation.

Yanukovych, Tymoshenko: Two horse race

National Radio Ukraine reports:
 
If the presidential elections were held in the end of September, Viktor Yanukovych and Yulia Tymoshenko would have had the highest support of the voters, according to the survey conducted by the Ukrainian Democratic Circle at the request of the Institute of Politics.

A total of 28.9% of voters ready to back Yanukovych and 20.8% support Tymoshenko. Other politicians have a substantially lower backing of the population. In the runoff election, Yanukovych would get 41% and Tymoshenko 35.1%.

Revolution has come to a stand still – There will be no mass protest in the streets

Ukraine will not see a repeat of events that saw mass protests in the streets in 2004 and the eventual election of Viktor Yushchenko to the presidency in an unprecedented and controversial third round ballot. Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine’s Prime-minister and main candidate for election in January’s poll has stated on TV and reported on national radio that “We will not challenge any election returns to avoid tremors, which may bring about instability in this country”.

“If the people elect their president, and this is not Yulia Tymoshenko, I will take this choice easy, for sure”

Her statement was also backed by Ukraine’s former President Leonid Kuchma who has excluded the possibility of a third round ballot.

According to the past President, during the election campaign in 2004 a decision about holding the third round was political and it will not be repeated. “The 2004 decision was an exclusion from a rule”.

This is a clear sign that the presidential elections are expected to produce a clear result that will be acceptable to all parties with the possible exception of Ukraine’s incumbent President, Viktor Yushchenko, who is expected to lose in the first round of the elections scheduled for January 17, 2010.

Yushchenko’s plan to disrupt the elections begins to unravel as support drops away

Ukraine president, Viktor Yushchenko has shown signs that his proposed plan to disrupt Ukraine’s Presidential election and further destabilize Ukraine’s economy may be beginning to lose support. Days after Yushchenko had lodged an appeal in Ukraine’s Constitutional Court against the Law on the Presidential election Yushchenko’s Constitutional voice, Maryna Stavniychuk, has issued the first sign of backing down.

The deputy head of the presidential secretariat stated.

“It is obvious that there are no serious political or legal grounds to consider the issue of the possible disruption of the presidential elections in Ukraine”

This is a clear indication that Ms Stavniychuk may have been given intel that the Constitutional Court will reject Yushchenko’s appeal as not having any substance. The head of the Constitutional Court has stated that the Court will not be considering Yushchenko’s appeal as a matter of urgency. It is also likely that Yushchenko has been advised that any attempt to disrupt the election would not be supported by the international community.

The other issue of concern is the announcement that the President of Ukraine will once again seek to block supply and misuse his authority to reject Ukraine’s budget. If this happens Yushchenko will cause a major constitutional and financial crisis and loss of confidence weeks before the Presidential poll.

Many western countries have removed or seriously limited the ability of the head of state to block supply and reject a government’s budget, the reason being that it is a power that is widely open to abuse.

Yushchenko is still languishing in the polls and in spite his claims that he will win the next election his support rating remains in single digits and he is not considered a player or a serious contender.

Presidential elections to cost more then 3.5 times 2007 elections

Ukraine’s Central Electoral Commission (CEC) has reported that it will spend 1.27 billion hryvina to hold the next Presidential election at an approximate cost of 36 hryvina per registered voter. By comparison the costs of the 2007 Parliamentary election was 10 hryvina per voter. 36.582 million voters are registered to vote including 390,000 which are located abroad in foreign countries. The CEC has indicted that the electoral roll is of high quality and has been prepared with the assistance of the OSCE.

Party of Regions has expressed concern that the number of registered voters in the south east of Ukraine is less then in 2007 whilst the percentage of voters registered in Western Ukraine has increased. Overall there is 400,000 less voters registered now then in 2007.

Concern was also expressed about the recent decree of the President that requires regional state administrations to promote Yushchenko’s version of admendments to Ukraine’s constitution. Party of regions has hinted that they will apply to Ukraine’s Constitutional Court to have them review the President’s decree as they considered it to be inappropriate use of public resources for what is essentially electioneering propaganda.

NISS: Yushchenko on the rise – Yatseniuk losing support.

A recent public opinion poll published in Kyivpost has Yushchenko listed at 7.1% (Significantly greater then all other polls). Yushchenko, who is still in single digits, is behind Yanukovych (21.7%), Tymoshenko (14%) and Yatseniuk (10%)

The poll was conducted by the National Institute for Strategic Studies (NISS).

This poll is very much out of sync with all other public opinion polls. If it is to be believed than it shows Yushchenko picking up ground at the expense of Yatseniuk who has dropped to just 10%. Both Yatseniuk and Yushchenko are vying for the same electorate base. Under Ukraine’s two-round “first-past-the-post” Presidential voting system Yushchenko would have to out-poll both Yulia Tymoshenko and Yasteniuk to survive the first round of voting.

It needs to be mentioned that since 19 November 2000, the National Institute for Strategic Studies has been subordinated to the Office of the President of Ukraine and the Institute’s current director, Yuri Ruban, was appointed in 2005. This says a lot about the credibility of the poll.

Kyivpost also published another NISS poll indicating that a majority of Ukrainians support Yushchenko’s proposed Constitutional reforms and a Presidential-Parliamentary system. All are lacking credibility and should be viewed with caution

Yushchenko is trying to disrupt the elections – Turchynov

Zik.com.ua reports that Viktor Yushchenko is seeking to disrupt the holding of Presidential elections in 2010 in order to cling on to power beyond his five year term of office. Yushchenko whose rating is less then 4% is expected to lose in the first round of voting.

First Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Turchinov, a former ally of yushenko and member of bloc Yulia Tymsochenko has stated that “Yushchenko and his associates hope that the elections would be disrupted. This is not only the hope that they will be able to block or veto the adoption of the budget“

“Yushchenko is trying to disrupt the elections, not only by blocking the budget, but also by appealing to the Constitutional Court to rule unconstitutional the election law – this is his last hope to remain in office.“

Amidst concern that the Constitutional Court will make a ruling not based on law but under the instruction of the president, Turchinov has advised that any decision to derail the elections would be strongly opposed with 430-440 deputies determined to see that the presidential elections take place as scheduled.

Turchinov has warned the Constitutional court that it must not be bias in its determination and must act independently without pressure from the President.

Already the Constitutional Court has indicated that it would not be ruling on the President’s decree before October. Any attempt to declare the Presidential elections unlawful could result on a complete collapse of public confidence.