The date of the Constitution Court ruling concerning the presidential edict calling the referendum will be postponed, court press service chief Volodymyr Shliaposhnykov declared. He confirmed that under the law and in view of the court’s resolution attaching top priority to the case, the judges were supposed to rule not later than March 18, but the hearings ended only March 16, meaning that the case will be further deliberated at a plenary sitting held in camera. At present, the ruling is being worked on, reports Interfax Ukraine.
Meanwhile, People’s Deputy Serhiy Holovaty, member of the Verkhovna Rada delegation to Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, says all 18 judges of the Constitutional Court handling the parliamentary representation claiming unconstitutionality of the 16 April referendum will be supplied with draft findings of the Venice Commission (an active CE ad hoc body of experts and consultants —Ed.) proposing to proclaim the referendum as being at variance with the Constitution and international democratic standards.
The Day asked Vice Speaker Stepan Havrysh to comment on the draft findings.
S.H.: It’s a draft, meaning that the findings are still to be approved officially. We know that it was prepared relying on written expert reports submitted by five of six constitutional jurists from Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Czech Republic. To begin with, the fact that Western jurists could come to terms with the intricacies of Ukraine’s legal and above all constitutional framework so quickly is highly questionable. Also, one should be sure about what considerations they relied upon when passing their judgment, as Mr. Holovaty said. As I stated, it’s still a draft and it’s anyone’s guess what the commission’s decision will be. Second, there is the political and procedural aspect. I think that the rash manner in which the draft findings were made is evidence of an emotional rather than professionally balanced expert stand. Anyway, such heightened activity in disseminating the draft is obviously an attempt to pressure the Constitutional Court. This is highly inappropriate from the standpoint of common sense. Procedurally, a prestigious body such as the Venice Commission should have never made public its own point of view before the Constitutional Court ruling as Ukraine’s only institution entitled to interpret such issues.
The Day: We know that the PACE Monitoring Committee accepted the proposal on March 8 to suspend Ukraine’s membership if the so-called referendum implying reforms in the system of political power does take place April 16, considering the situation that has developed. What consequences would Ukraine face if it went ahead with the referendum?
S.H.: I think that such blatant pressure will only cause Ukraine to respond in kind. And I am convinced that no such cruel resolution will be passed, otherwise it would contradict all those mottoes proclaimed by representatives of United Europe. We have a good saying: everything must be done to make the weak strong and make them think of the weak. As it is, they are trying to make us even weaker and deny us an opportunity to conduct a dialogue with the European community of nations by making such severe statements.
INCIDENTALLY
Last Monday, Rostyslav Rudych, leader of Referendum Initiative Group No. 1 in Zhytomyr, declared that his organization had decided to send proposals to the President, Verkhovna Rada, and Constitutional Court, concerning the deletion of the question on the referendum agenda, namely a vote of no confidence in Parliament. At the same time, the group from Zhytomyr decided to contact other such groups to support their proposal. Mr. Rudych said their decision was motivated by a resolution passed by a meeting of the “work collective” of the local public Biomedsklo (Bio-Medical Glass) Co., to the effect that the no confidence vote item was no longer expedient in view of the formation of an active and constructive parliamentary majority. Certain local analysts, however, claim the new initiative was ordered from above just like the referendum idea. The more so that Biomedsklo’s chairman of the board, Oleksandr Rudenky, is also head of the local organization of Zlahoda, reports The Day’s Valery KOSTIUKEVYCH.
