EDITORIAL: Ukraine comes of age (07/07/96)

EDITORIAL

Ukraine comes of age

It was perhaps the most historic moment in the short life of independent Ukraine. The Parliament's adoption last week of the Constitution of Ukraine - in a highly dramatic, tense, yet civilized all-night marathon session - proved not only to the citizens of Ukraine, but to the world, that this nation of 52 million is slowly and steadily emerging as a major player alongside the member-states of the democratic European community.

"There is no going back for us," said Justice Minister Serhiy Holovaty, one of the main authors of Ukraine's fundamental law. "We were given a choice, and we chose freedom," he said explaining that the newly adopted document, European in spirit and Ukrainian in character, in his mind, solidifies Ukraine's independence and its development as a democratic state.

In many ways, the adoption of the Constitution consolidated the majority of the forces in Parliament for the first time since Ukraine proclaimed its independence.

True, the vote for independence almost five years ago in the parliamentary chambers also was dramatic, but it was dictated by historic circumstances in the collapsing Soviet Union, not by the free will of the lawmakers in the Ukrainian Supreme Council. When that vote took place, for the majority of the deputies in the Communist-dominated legislature it was not a sign of true convictions. In all honesty, for the Communists in 1991 the vote for independence was a vote for personal salvation.

But June 28, 1996, was different. It showed that in five years of independence, Ukraine's lawmakers had grown into statesmen, elected officials who represent the citizens of the democratic state of Ukraine.

It was Parliament Chairman Oleksander Moroz who summed up the events of the night of June 27-28 most succinctly: "The strength of the Constitution is the fact that it created a precedent of unity in the Supreme Council, which I hope will be a lasting factor in the work of the legislature."

And President Leonid Kuchma, present in the session hall for the Constitution vote, commended the Parliament for its work. "I want to say that, regardless of what side anyone took in the past, in this situation you all came down on the side of Ukraine. This last event proved that we, in a critical moment, are worthy of being called the representatives of the Ukrainian people."

As the deputies in the hall saluted the adoption of the Constitution with rounds of applause and a standing ovation, the stress and strain of the non-stop 16-hour session subsided for the moment. As Ukraine's national anthem was played, the faces of many of the deputies were solemn, as they seemed to reflect on the meaning of the event that had just transpired.

It was a moment when most deputies felt proud to be Ukrainian. And, it should be a moment of great pride not only for Ukraine's citizens, who have been legitimized as a nation in the Constitution, but also for all the millions of people around the world whose roots are deeply embedded in the black soil (chornozem) of Ukraine.

Despite the fact that the Constitution was a long time in coming - Ukraine's sovereignty was proclaimed six years ago (on July 16, 1990) and its independence was declared almost five years ago (on August 24, 1991) - it now seems that this historic moment was well worth the wait.

Unlike the constitutional process in Moscow, in the fall of 1993, there were no tanks rolling down the streets. There was no army ordered by the president to storm the Parliament building. No one dissolved the popularly elected Parliament and, in the end, there was no need for a national referendum on the Constitution.

There was no panic in society; citizens were not warned to run for cover. There was no gunfire resounding through the night and no bloodshed. Undoubtedly, the most salient component in the entire process was the fact that no human lives were lost in the name of democracy.

It was yet another peaceful transition for the independent state of Ukraine. As Justice Minister Serhiy Holovaty so aptly pointed out: "The citizens of Ukraine went to sleep in one country, and got up the next morning in a new, constitutionally legitimized democratic state."

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