New Constitution changes political landscape (07/07/96)

New Constitution changes political landscape

by Marta Kolomayets
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - As the euphoria that accompanied the adoption of a new Constitution begins to wane, various particulars of the 16-hour marathon session in Parliament on June 27-28 attest to the smoke-and-mirrors atmosphere of that night and provide an intriguing glimpse into the future of this legislative body.

To be sure, the Parliament did adopt a new democratic Constitution, a document that, according to one of the principal authors of the fundamental law, Justice Minister and Deputy Serhiy Holovaty, "should make all Ukrainians proud."

"We have joined the league of European nations - nations that have chosen democracy and freedom, and there is no going back," Mr. Holovaty proclaimed.

Parliament Chairman Oleksander Moroz - a pivotal player in the final stages of the constitutional process - was no less enthusiastic about the newly adopted document, explaining that the foundation for the state is laid out with the building blocks of democracy. He explained that, with the adoption of the Constitution, the building of the state and a new social order, in which the individual's rights are the priority, had begun.

Speaking to reporters at a news conference on July 1, Mr. Moroz assured journalists that the Constitution had been adopted because of the lawmakers' deep sense of responsibility regarding Ukraine's destiny, and not, as some political observers have claimed, because deputies feared for their own fate.

This last statement was fueled by rumors that the president would dissolve the Parliament if it did not adopt the Constitu-tion. "Nobody in the Parliament did anything out of fear," responded Mr. Moroz.

Nonetheless, it cannot be denied that President Leonid Kuchma's June 26 decree to hold a national referendum on the Constitution - whether it was a calculated political ploy to get the Parliament moving, or simply an attempt to stimulate the stalled constitutional process - had jolted the deputies into immediate action.

Challenged by President Leonid Kuchma's move - which implied that the legislative branch would be bypassed in adopting the Constitution and thus its importance negated - Mr. Moroz rose to the call.

"There were quite a few dramatic moments as the Supreme Council worked intensely throughout the night, and searched for compromise on key issues, in order to pass the Constitution," said Mr. Moroz.

He told reporters he believed that Parliament would have adopted the Constitution in full by the beginning of the summer recess, and he calculated that the legislature could have voted for the fundamental law on July 16, the sixth anniversary of Ukraine's Declaration on State Sovereignty.

But, once the impetus was provided, Mr. Moroz, backed by a majority of deputies who were displeased with President Kuchma's intimidation tactics, saw that the lawmakers could indeed pass the Constitution by the morning of June 28.

Chairman Moroz described the dramatic events, noting that he was concerned when the Parliament was short of a constitutional quorum because the Rukh faction and some of the Derzhavnist deputies had refused to register on June 27.

"We were ready to support President Kuchma with his call for a national referendum," said Vyacheslav Chornovil, explaining why his faction did not take part in that session. Rukh supported the president's move by holding meetings in towns and cities over the past few weeks, collecting signatures in support of this action, and preparing the populace to vote "yes" in the fall.

But, by Thursday evening, the requisite number of deputies had registered in the Parliament and the constitutional process began.

Giving almost a play-by-play of his strategy, Mr. Moroz said that another dramatic moment in the Parliament came at around 11 p.m. on June 27, when he saw that deputies were dozing off. But, as the debates got heated, many of the lawmakers began relying on adrenaline and coffee to get through the night. (Workers in the Parliament's buffet, which was open all night, reported that deputies ate 66 pounds of sausages and consumed 15 pounds of coffee.)

At 2:10 a.m., there was an attempt to disrupt the session, but the deputies did not leave the hall as they had done on many previous occasions. Mr. Moroz said it was at that point in time that he knew by morning Ukraine would have a new Constitution.

It was in the wee hours of the morning that Mr. Moroz called for all deputies to register their presence in the legislative halls, as it became evident that some deputies who also hold ministerial positions in the government were absent. Sources close to Prime Minister Petro Lazarenko (who is still a deputy in Parliament, but who did not attend the session) have said that Mr. Lazarenko wanted a show of loyalty to the president and the government from those deputies who work in the Cabinet of Ministers. However, many of the lawmakers did come back to the Parliament for the vote, ignoring Mr. Lazarenko's call.

This move shows that, even as late as 2 a.m., President Kuchma was not confident that the Constitution was going to be adopted by the Parliament and that he still thought it might be put to the referendum scheduled for September 25.

There is also the fact that, for the past several weeks, President Kuchma filled vacant slots in regional and city administrations, including Kharkiv, Vinnytsia and Kherson, with his own people. This suggests that the president was building a support base in case the referendum was to be conducted.

Prime Minister Lazarenko, who was holding a government conference with trade union leaders in Cherkasy on Friday morning, June 28, was taken by surprise when he heard the news that the Constitution had already been adopted.

Mr. Chornovil, speaking at a Rukh press conference to celebrate the adoption of Ukraine's Constitution on July 2, admitted to reporters that he did not believe the Parliament could pass the Constitution during the night of June 27-28.

"I only began believing it at 7:05 in the morning, when we were able to work out a compromise regarding Ukraine's national symbols," he said. He added that the left-wingers had agreed to adopt Ukraine's national flag, state symbol and anthem if the national democrats agreed to give the Crimea the status of an autonomous republic with its own constitution (one that has to be in line with the Ukrainian Constitution and approved by the Supreme Council in Kyiv).

Ultimately, the right-wingers had to make this concession, but as Ivan Zayets, a deputy from Rukh and one of the original members of the Constitutional Committee, explained the Communists were the ones who had to give in on most of their positions.

For example, the left gave up its insistence on the red flag, the hammer and sickle, and Russian as an official language of Ukraine. They also were forced to allow the right to private property to be listed as a fundamental right in the Constitution.

"It was the Communists who had their wings clipped in this process," noted Mr. Chornovil.

With numerous ad hoc committees working through the night on compromise documents, the Parliament was indeed able to unite and pass the Constitution on Friday morning, June 28, by a vote of 315-36.

"This was a great victory for the Ukrainian model of democracy, and the process was 100 percent legitimate," said Mr. Holovaty, beaming as he spoke about the results.

However, the unity that was so warmly welcomed by Mr. Moroz, was already beginning to crumble within a few days after the Constitution's adoption.

Mr. Moroz commended Petro Symonenko, the Communist Party's leader, for his diligent work in the constitutional process and his constructive role. "I met with the Communist faction on a number of occasions, and I know that they had real possibilities to block the process, to discard compromises. But they did not do this," said the leader of the Socialist Party.

But, just days after the Constitution was adopted, Mr. Symonenko questioned the legitimacy of a document that is speedily reviewed in the middle of night and quickly adopted as the sun comes up.

Mr. Symonenko and his compatriots have begun criticizing the document, calling it an anti-popular Constitution. And yet, only 36 deputies - 35 of them from the 88-person-strong Communist faction - voted against the Constitution. Now those Communists who voted for the Constitution are being threatened with expulsion from the faction and the party by their leader.

"The Constitution was not adopted in one night," said Mr. Holovaty, correcting Mr. Symonenko's assumptions. "It was a process that began on the day we declared Ukrainian sovereignty on July 16, 1990, continued with the Declaration of Independence on August 24, 1991, was reinvigorated in 1994 with the formation of a new Constitutional Committee, and so on," he explained.

"The constitutional process was not a one-night marathon session," said Dmytro Tabachnyk, President Kuchma's chief of staff, who added that the adoption of a new Constitution was a top priority for President Kuchma from the day he had assumed office in July 1994.

"And, although we have a new Constitution, the bulk of the work is ahead of us," said Mr. Chornovil. "Our battles are not yet over, but at least we no longer have to ask the question: 'where are we going?' "

"We have a legitimate, independent, sovereign, unitarian Ukrainian state," he said.

In September, the fall session of the Parliament may have a totally different factional composition than the one going on summer hiatus on July 12.

Given that the new Constitution stresses a clear division of powers, and that the deputies - on June 28 - passed a resolution banning lawmakers from serving in both the legislative and executive branches or working in commerical ventures and state enterprises, the lawmakers will have to choose where they want to stay.

This effects nearly 60 national democrats and centrists, including Ministers Holovaty, Yuriy Kostenko, Roman Shpek and Viktor Pynzenyk. But it also affects 33 deputies from the Communist and Socialist factions who work as collective farm directors or enterprise managers. They, too, will have to make a choice by the time Parliament reconvenes in early September.

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