Rada moves on amendments to Constitution (07/23/00)

Rada moves on amendments to Constitution

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - In a turbulent week of legislation before its summer break began, the Verkhovna Rada, moved two high-profile bills at the top of the government's wish list closer to adoption over vehement protests from leftist factions.

The Parliament leadership, which represents a pro-presidential majority coalition, had promised President Leonid Kuchma that it would push through a critical first reading of the land reform act and begin to enact amendments to the Constitution before the end of the spring session on July 13.

The proposed changes to the Constitution were approved overwhelmingly by Ukrainian voters in a spring referendum. They include a reduction of seats in the Verkhovna Rada from the current 450 to 300; a limit on current national deputies immunity from criminal prosecution; the development of a bicameral legislature; and the extension of the president's right to dismiss the Parliament if it cannot form a majority within a month or approve an annual budget within three months.

On July 6 the president received initial approval of his land reform law when 229 national deputies supported it, which led to a confrontation between leaders of the Communist and Progressive Socialist factions and the Verkhovna Rada leadership, as well as isolated instances of fisticuffs between lawmakers.

The four leftist factions - Communists, Socialists, Progressive Socialists and Peasants - who have seen their influence over the legislative process diminish to nearly nothing since centrist forces formed their majority coalition at the beginning of the year, wanted to use the controversial land reform bill to reassert their authority.

Communist and Progressive Socialist faction members, led by Communist leader Petro Symonenko, ascended the presidium dais to protest what they perceived as illegal voting by centrist lawmakers for those who were not present in the session hall.

By-card voting for absent lawmakers has been a chronic problem in the Parliament and is utilized by all the factions, including leftist factions, to maximize the vote in issues of concern.

After heated exchanges between Chairman Ivan Pliusch and Mr. Symonenko, and shoving matches among lawmakers, which included several flayed punches, a recess was called.

After the break Mr. Pliusch announced that the voting results would stand, but that the rules and regulations committee would review the way in which the vote took place and report to the entire body the following week. Soon after the Communist faction announced that in protest it would not take part in daily sessions until the issue is resolved.

On July 18 the rules and regulations committee announced that it had corroborated that 15 lawmakers who were not physically present in the hall were among those who had voted for the bill. It also revealed, however, that 18 lawmakers had submitted affidavits in which they attested to the fact that they were coerced into voting against the bill by leftist faction members.

While the rules and regulations committee was ready to call the whole thing even and let the vote stand, Communists again rushed the presidium and blocked the work of the legislature for half a day, until it received assurances that the committee would continue to look into the matter. The committee did not issue another report before the spring session ended.

The land reform act will require three readings before it passes into law. But centrist lawmakers were heartened by the vote because, generally, the first reading gives an idea of how much support exists for the general concept of a specific bill and the number of changes that might be required to achieve a consensus.

"We no longer have a mountain to climb. We now only need to make some adjustments to satisfy those who have certain problems with the draft law as it looks today," said Leonid Kravchuk, head of the majority coalition.

The lawmakers, however, do not expect the bill back in the session hall for a second reading until sometime in December.

As it is currently formulated, the draft bill cancels the right to collective property of land. It delineates three types of land ownership: private, municipal and state, and gives the right to extend land easements. It gives foreign citizens and foreign legal entities only the right to purchase non-agricultural land plots.

After sending the issue of unfair voting procedures in the land reform bill vote back to committee, the lawmakers addressed another critical bill, this one submitted by the presidential administration on the enactment of Constitutional changes as approved by popular referendum. On April 16 some 90 percent of all voting Ukrainians agreed that the four Constitutional changes proposed in the president's bill are needed.

Although initially there was some doubt about whether four centrist political factions that are part of the majority coalition - Ukrainian National Rukh, Batkivschyna, Reform-Congress and Solidarnist - would support the bill as presented, as the debate evolved it became increasingly clear that the only real opposition might come from a parallel bill introduced by the leftist bloc.

Both the president's bill and the alternative one had been submitted to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine for scrutiny as to their constitutionality several weeks earlier. The court decided to look at the presidential draft law first because it was "shorter and more straightforward," as the court explained when it made its ruling that the bill fell in line with Constitutional requirements.

It did not reveal its position on the alternative proposal - a much more detailed draft that includes provisions which would have given the Parliament control over the appointment of the prime minister and the Cabinet - until more than a week later, on July 13, when the president's draft bill was ready for a vote in the Parliament chambers.

As the Constitutional Court was announcing its rejection of the alternative draft law due to its vagueness in describing how a two-chamber Parliament would be developed and because of the constitutional incompatibility of its provision on removing deputies immunity, the Verkhovna Rada was approving the president's bill by a vote of 251-22.

To be enacted into law the president's bill must again receive approval by the next session of the Verkhovna Rada, this time by a two-thirds majority. That session begins in September, but leading lawmakers have said that the bill probably will not come to a vote until later in the autumn.

If the bill receives two-thirds approval and after the amendments are made in the Constitution, the Verkhovna Rada will still have to approve a series of at least 40 laws to bring the country's legislation into compliance with the fundamental law. It also will need to define the procedure by which a bilateral Parliament will be formed.

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