President Leonid Kuchma has exercised his veto power over the parliamentary election law passed by Verkhovna Rada on September 13, expressing a number of critical remarks. It will be recalled that this is his fourth veto of this law. The people’s deputies received the head of state’s remarks on October 5 during registration.
As Mr. Kuchma’s remarks and proposals about the election law proceed from constitutional considerations, parliament could well take them into account. The head of state’s opinion was read by Leonid Pidpalov, deputy head of the Presidential Administration. Speaking at a Kyiv briefing on October 4, Mr. Pidpalov said the president had made a “difficult” decision to veto the bill. According to Mr. Pidpalov, Pres. Kuchma thinks that the version passed “still does not create equal conditions for all participants in the election process.” In particular, the chief executive does not agree that practically all stages of the election process “are to be run by parties.”
What also violates the Constitution, in his opinion, is the provision that constituent electoral commissions are to consist only of representatives of the eight political parties that gained 4% of votes in the previous parliamentary elections. This restricts the participation of other parties of Ukraine, which now number 120. As is known, the president also believes 90, not 170, days will suffice for the election campaign.
The Presidential Administration deputy chairman announced that if the deputies fail to make a decision on the president’s amendments to the election law, the starting date of the election campaign will be scheduled by the Central Electoral Commission (CEC). At the same time, he noted that the CEC would make a decision on the basis of the existing election law with due account of the clauses found unconstitutional.
Meanwhile, the president announced he would sign the election bill into law immediately after Verkhovna Rada sustained the amendments he was proposing, Interfax-Ukraine reported. This will happen, of course, if the deputies do not override the veto, but most parliament members feel rather pessimistic about this prospect. In particular, “there is no chance at all” to override the presidential veto in the opinion of Heorhy Kriuchkov, member of the largest Communist faction in parliament. He thinks the chief executive will “squeeze parliament to the end,” forcing Verkhovna Rada to opt for a compromise, and then sign the law. Mr. Kriuchkov also said the Communist faction “was sure” to vote to override the veto. That parliament will fail to override the veto is also the opinion of Fatherland, Reforms Congress, and Rukh fraction leaders.
Prominent political scientist Volodmyr Malynkovych also doubts that parliament will be able to override the veto. In his opinion, “a compromise option will be brought into play, which will require no veto.” The pundit told The Day that cutting the election campaign period to 120 days could be such a compromise. As to the formation of commissions, the political scientist believes that “all the parties that cleared the 4% barrier in the previous elections will participate, if indirectly, in the work of electoral commissions because they are not linked to specific blocs.”
“Some hot heads think the presidential veto must be overridden,” Leonid Kravchuk (SDPU{o} faction) said while presenting the project, Cadre Reserve: Ukraine’s New Force. “But the president can say that he can appeal to the Constitutional Court. And no one knows how long the court will consider the appeal and what conclusions it will come to.” The people’s deputy believes that the president and parliament should reach a compromise by correcting the existing law on Verkhovna Rada elections.
Roman Bezsmertny, the president’s permanent representative in the parliament, made a forecast in a press interview: next week the president could hold additional consultations with fraction leaders in search of a compromise.
