Kuchma submits draft bills to implement referendum, but Rada's discussion is postponted until January 11 (12/31/00)

Kuchma submits draft bills to implement referendum,
but Rada's discussion is postponted until January 11

by Jan Maksymiuk
RFE/RL Poland, Belarus and Ukraine Report

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma submitted two bills to the Parliament to implement the results of the April 16 constitutional referendum, Interfax reported on November 22.

The overwhelming majority of Ukrainians said "yes" to all four of the plebiscite questions proposed by the president. Mr. Kuchma had asked approval for the following: to give the president the right to dissolve the Parliament if it fails to pass a budget within three months or form a majority within one month; to abolish lawmakers' immunity from criminal prosecution; to reduce the number of parliamentary deputies from 450 to 300; and to introduce a bicameral legislature in Ukraine.

The bills are related to the first two questions on the referendum. They were endorsed by a special commission set up by the Verkhovna Rada and the presidential administration after the referendum in order to implement its results. The commission is headed by Rada Vice-Chairman Viktor Medvedchuk and the chief of the presidential administration, Volodymyr Lytvyn.

The bill on the early dissolution of the Parliament stipulates that the president may take such action if the Verkhovna Rada fails to form a majority within one month or adopt a budget within 92 days of the government's submitting that document. The Cabinet of Ministers is obligated to submit a budget draft no later than September 15. Additionally, the bill provides for the Parliament to be dissolved if that body fails to hold a plenary sitting within 30 days of the inauguration of a parliamentary session.

The bill on the lifting of lawmakers' immunity from criminal prosecution is proposed in the form of amendments to the law "On the Status of National Deputies of Ukraine." Under the provisions of that bill, a lawmaker can be detained or arrested only following a "substantiated" decision by Ukraine's Supreme Court. Criminal proceedings against a lawmaker can be instigated only by the procurator general. On the other hand, the bill stipulates that "the immunity of the national deputies of Ukraine is guaranteed" and says that "the national deputies of Ukraine are not legally accountable for how they vote or what they say in the Parliament or its bodies, except for insults or defamation."

President Kuchma commented on November 23 that he will have to look for "additional means" to influence the national deputies if they fail to endorse the bills on the implementation of the constitutional referendum. He did not elaborate.

Socialist Party leader Oleksander Moroz commented on November 24 that the Verkhovna Rada should not consider Mr. Kuchma's two bills before the adoption of legislation amending the constitution in line with the April 16 referendum. That last bill was submitted by Mr. Kuchma earlier.

"As long as the Constitution of Ukraine is not amended, there should be no talk about those draft laws. The world has not yet known the practice of replacing a Constitution with a law," Interfax quoted Mr. Moroz as saying.

On December 22, Eastern Economist reported on a delay in the Verkhovna Rada's consideration of the draft bills submitted by the president.

The president's permanent representative in the Parliament, Roman Bezsmertnyi, said it was decided not to include draft laws on the implementation of the April referendum results on the parliamentary agenda because of the situation in the legislature. He said the decision was made on December 20 at a meeting of the parliamentary coordination council while the agenda for the next day was being prepared.

Mr. Bezsmertnyi added that that, "taking into account all the events and the political situation" - a reference to the imbroglio over the case of missing journalist Heorhii Gongadze - the inclusion of these issues on the parliamentary agenda could lead to a further heightening of the situation.

He said that the coordination council had decided to postpone the issue unitl the Verkhovna Rada's next plenary session on January 11, 2001.

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