In Brief: Ukraine

Last Tuesday the Constitutional Court (CC) of Ukraine received a petition from 42 people’s deputies claiming that parliament passed an unconstitutional decision to adjust the current presidential election law to the rerun vote on December 26, court spokesman Volodymyr Shliaposhnykov told Interfax-Ukraine. He also said the CC had received two complaints that the Verkhovna Rada resolution, which includes a vote of non-confidence in the cabinet, is unconstitutional. Both complaints are now under preliminary scrutiny, the CC spokesman said. Mr. Shliaposhnykov added that the Constitutional Court has received no complaints about the unconstitutionality of the Supreme Court ruling that annulled the results of the November 21 presidential runoff. “People who know the Constitution and the laws, including the law on the Constitutional Court, are unlikely to file this kind of petition,” Mr. Shliaposhnykov stressed. He also noted that some politicians have been spreading rumors that the CC could in some way influence the preparations for and the conduct of the December 26 repeat vote by ruling, for example, that the Supreme Court order was unconstitutional.