Left-wingers prevent Parliament from reviewing draft constitution (05/26/96)

Left-wingers prevent Parliament from reviewing draft constitution

by Marta Kolomayets
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Left-wing forces disrupted the work of the Parliament on Thursday morning, May 23, refusing to register because the final version of the draft constitution was to be presented to the legislature, which was scheduled to examine it in its first reading.

With the Communist, Socialist and Agrarian factions of Parliament refusing to take part in the session, only 248 deputies registered - 53 short of the quorum of 301 needed for the constitutional debate.

Despite three tries by Parliament Deputy Chairman Oleksander Tkachenko to get the morning session started, members of the three factions refused to give into his coaxing, and later walked out during speeches by democratic deputies who lambasted the stubborn left-wingers.

Former President Leonid Kravchuk called the day's events "a parliamentary crisis."

The Presidium of the Supreme Council, meeting on May 22, had decided to present the 161-article draft constitution, prepared by an ad hoc committee of Parliament deputies and reviewed by President Leonid Kuchma.

But the three factions protested this move, stating that the decision by the Presidium to submit the draft constitution to Parliament on May 23 and May 28 was unlawful.

"This is in conflict with the parliamentary rules of procedure, and bills submitted for examination in Parliament must be circulated among the deputies from six to 14 days before they are examined," said Socialist Deputy Yosyf Vinsky. The parliamentary deputies received the draft constitution on May 21.

This was not the first time - and political observers note, it will not be the last time that left-wingers in Parliament have caused a delay in examining the draft constitution. Despite the fact that a Constitutional Committee, composed jointly of government officials and parliamentary deputies, had worked on the fundamental law for over a year and adopted a draft on March 11 of this year, Parliament Chairman Oleksander Moroz decided in May to create a "special temporary committee for reconciling the draft constitution."

As noted in last week's news story, hardly had the new committee begun its work, when deputies from the Communist Party walked out, refusing to take part in the constitutional process. The Communist Party wants to present the Constitution of the Ukrainian SSR - with a few new additions - as the fundamental law of the land.

Mr. Moroz, who is also the head of the Socialist Party, has called this version of the constitution more democratic than the new draft, because it allows state, collective and private property.

When the special committee finished working on the draft constitution, it presented the document to President Kuchma for his approval on May 20.

Oleksander Lavrynovych, a member of the Rukh faction in Parliament who worked on this special committee, told reporters on May 20, the "president has given the go-ahead to 100 percent of the committee's proposals."

Oleksander Yemets, recently named prime minister for political and legal issues, said President Kuchma "displayed such a degree of flexibility for the sake of peace and concord in society."

The new draft constitution, finalized by the ad hoc Supreme Council committee, envisions a few changes, including a unicameral Parliament, to be called the People's Council of Ukraine (Narodna Rada), instead of a bicameral Parliament (comprising a House of Deputies and Senate) proposed by the Constitutional Committee.

The new draft contains only one change concerning the powers of the Parliament: the legislature will have the right to nominate one-third of the members of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.

The Parliament will also consent to the nomination and dismissal of the head of the Anti-Monopoly Committee and the chairman of the State Property Fund.

The new draft also notes that the national monetary unit will be called the hryvnia.

It also states that the president has the power to call early elections to the People's Council and that the president. together with the Parliament, will come up with a candidate for the office of prime minister. Together the two branches will also decide on the prime minister's suspension of powers or his resignation.

In the new 63-page draft, the Cabinet of Ministers is termed the "supreme executive body," subordinated to the president and accountable to the Parliament.

In the chapter dealing with justice, the draft constitution represents the concept of a jury, and it also provides for establishment of a new body, the Council of Magistrates.

Regarding the Crimea, the new draft calls it the Autonomous Republic of the Crimea, whereas the previous draft termed the territory the Autonomy of the Crimea. Neither drafts call for a constitution of the Crimea, proposing instead a charter for the territory, which is referred to as an "integral component part of Ukraine."

At present the Parliament is scheduled to review the draft at plenary meetings on May 28 and June 4.

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