2007

FROM PRESIDENTIAL-PARLIAMENTARY TO ALMOST PARLIAMENTARY-PRESIDENTIAL RULE

Nowadays Ukraine experiences a hard way of implementation of the constitutional reform. The main reason for today’s activities in this directions are weakness of the president, hunger for the power of the regionalists and readiness to conclude separatist agreements of the opposition leader. Thanks to developing of mechanism of overcoming presidential vetoes, the parliamentary coalition leaded by the Party of Regions, and most of parliamentary opposition, represented by Tymoshenko’s bloc BYUT, established practice of ad hoc constitution majority. It proved to be able even to change, at least partly, political system of this country. The main attempt in these changes was adopting Law on Cabinet of Ministers, which gives government and parliamentary coalition more rights, taking them away from the president. Also, the coalition may obtain more rights, if Law on Opposition is adopted. BYUT gains additional authorities from Law on Imperative Mandate for deputies of local councils. Besides, presidential authorities can be diminished with further decrease of legal status of the National Security and Defence Council and giving more authorities to new vice prime minister on defence and security issues. Helping the coalition and government and letting the president down, Yulia Tymoshenko has started her own political game. Its stakes are winning – sooner or later – the power at nationwide scale. Therefore all her concessions to the regionalists Mrs. Tymoshenko considers as tactical. To cancel the constitutional reform remains the only strategically correct action for the president in this situation. The decision of the Constitutional Court not to think that investigation of any already adopted amendments to Constitution is illegal also makes reconsidering the reform possible. As for now, the pro-presidential forces fights for the double veto on the Cabinet of Ministers law, although the president may agree with a compromise solution with the regionalists for this law.