Today, we are receiving the kind of help the West is ready to provide. Take the is a graphic example of how the Ukrainian public can put such Western help to good sharply lowering its deficit, starting growth in the real sector, this would make it poscosts. Of course, nothing of the kind has been done, and Ukraine has become firm
For the first time the political forces opposing the all-Ukrainian referendum have made an attempt to unite and develop a joint action strategy. On February 23, representatives of 11 parties and 9 NGOs held a round table in Kyiv under the slogan, For the constitutional democratic development of Ukraine, devoted to the analysis of the situation regarding the referendum.
The round table organizers defined the purpose of their efforts as “counteraction to the attempts to change the constitutional order under cover of all-Ukrainian referendum, and resistance to the barefaced lie being established in public policy.”
Most attention focused on analysis of the extent, to which holding a referendum is hazardous for this country. Most of the speakers pointed to the fact that the referendum has split Ukrainian society and caused grave concern within the international community.
Anatoly Matviyenko noted that his Sobor Party does not object to the referendum in principle but is against “manipulating democracy.” “The constitutional right of the people to express its will should be exercised in strict conformity with the law in force and generally accepted democratic standards,” he stressed.
According to the participants in the round table, the conditions in which the April 16 referendum is being prepared does not make it possible for one to say that this is a manifestation of a true people’s initiative. As Oleksandr Moroz noted, “In reality, holding the referendum is the initiative of oligarchic clans vying for power.”
Presenting analysis of the legal aspects of the referendum, People’s Deputy Serhiy Holovaty said that referendum in itself is a very dangerous form of changing the Constitution, because it can be accompanied by the abuse of power. He made reference to the opinion of the Venetian Commission, which does not recommend changing the Constitutional order by means of referenda. Also, he noted that the idea of holding a referendum on confidence in the body, which was formed in full conformity with the Constitution, is absolutely without basis.
He also noted that by ignoring the decision of the Council of Europe and conducting a referendum, Ukraine makes its first step away from Europe and democracy. “Now there are two areas being formed, an economic one in Europe and economic-criminal one in Ukraine and Russia,” Holovaty said. “If Ukraine holds this referendum, it will renounce its declared European course and start moving in the opposite direction. I think certain forces in the President’s entourage, which initiated this referendum, are interested in precisely this.”
Speakers at the round table also noted that they do not have any guarantees that lawfulness will be observed in the course of preparation and conducting the referendum. As a rule, those opposing the referendum do not have access to the mass media to air their views. On the other hand, they receive information from the regions that heads of local administrations are already receiving “voting ratios” from the top: to provide at least 80% affirmative votes for each of the issues. The final resolution of the round table reads that “they plan to turn the referendum into a farce with a predetermined result; actually, they are trying again to use in Ukraine the state machine of falsification of the election results.”
The opponents of the referendum plan to respond by undertaking joint actions for the preparation of campaign materials explaining the issues of the referendum, to conduct joint mass actions, train agitators, and send their representatives to election commissions. Moroz stated that the SPU had started all these activities immediately after the referendum was announced. “This is small counteraction, but it also counts,” said the Socialist Party leader. In addition, the opponents of the referendum hope that they will be helped by the socioeconomic situation and foreign countries, which means the negative reaction of the West to the referendum.
