The parliament of Ukraine is prepared to vote for Poroshenko’s Constitution

Poroshenko found the right words for MPs

Photo: Unian

The fear of early parliamentary elections makes MPs more flexible and agreeable. Capital learned that the Verkhovna Rada has already agreed to vote for the presidential version of the Constitution, although MPs intend to criticize it vigorously.

Invisible consultations

Yesterday, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Hennadiy Zubko stated that the president is willing to make revisions in his draft of constitutional amendments so that the document is adopted during the next plenary session. “The draft amendments to the Constitution proposed by the president are the key element for the peace plan developed for stabilization of the situation in the east,” said Zubko at a briefing in the PA. He added the president’s bill is currently being discussed in ongoing consultations with factions and groups.

At the same time, representatives of Batkivshchyna assured that no consultations were held over the past week. “There were no consultations. On July 3 Tymoshenko and Poroshenko had a meeting, but they did not discuss the Constitution. Instead, their talk was about the upcoming parliamentary elections,” said Deputy Chair of the faction Dmytro Shlemko in a conversation with Capital.

Lawmaker Volodymyr Oliynyk (For Peace and Stability group) also said there were no negotiations with them. “I can see the president has no desire to make MPs his allies in introduction of amendments to the Constitution. There is no discussion,” says Oliynyk.

Lawmaker Volodymyr Pylypenko (Economic Development group) told Capital that a special working group for drafting of amendments to the Constitution is in charge of gathering proposals of MPs to the president's bill. The group is headed by Vice Speaker of the VR Ruslan Koshulynskiy. “For three days we have been holding meetings to find a half-way solution of an acceptable option for both the president and MPs,” said Pylypenko. He predicts that next week a general project for MPs’ proposals will be drafted, which will be forwarded to the president. Pylypenko does not rule out that the president will be forced to offer the Rada to consider the new bill, because it is prohibited to amend the previously filed document after voting for its inclusion in the agenda.

Publicly commenting on Poroshenko’s bill MPs are filing many complaints regarding the role of prefects – presidential representatives in the regions, who will replace the oblast state administrations. “We already had president’s representatives and heads of executive committees in the 1990s. This resulted in conflicts,” said Oliynyk.

At the same time, Capital’s source in the Svoboda faction said that unofficially the MPs are most unhappy with the new mechanism of appointment and dismissal of the head of the Anti-monopoly Committee, because it eliminates the process of agreement of the nominees to a seat in the parliament. Many MPs fear that an official fully controlled by the president will become a tool for combating business entities in possession of unwanted politicians. For the same reason, MPs do not like the fact that according to the draft law on amendments to the Constitution, they cannot influence the dismissal of the Prosecutor General.

“We consulted and changes were introduced before the vote for inclusion of the document to the agenda. But eventually the bill was delivered in the same form and only one paragraph on languages was added. I think this time the chances of reaching any agreement are slim to none,” said a source, adding that MP Oleksandr Dombrovskiy (independent), who is a member of the president’s inner circle, is in charge of collecting the required number of votes in support of the president's bill. The negotiation process also involves the head of the PA Borys Lozhkin.

Batkivshchyna seeking a way out

Vice Chairman of the Batkivshchyna faction Dmytro Shlemko says the faction will not vote for the presidential version of changes to the Constitution. “We and Svoboda voted the first time because we are partners in the coalition. But we have a plan of our own now: we will collect signatures of 150 MPs and propose an alternative bill. After both of them are passed, they shall be submitted to the Constitutional Court for examination for compliance with the Fundamental Law. After that, they will be submitted to the Venice Commission,” said Shlemko regarding Batkivshchyna’s plans.

Capital’s source in the faction suggested that the introduction of an alternative bill is needed to throw aside the questions regarding discipline inside the faction. “The faction is heterogeneous. There are people who are guided by Arseniy Yatseniuk, some are close to Turchynov, and, of course, there are those who listen to Yulia Tymoshenko. Naturally, some of them will vote for the president’s bill,” suggested the source.

Authorized representative of the Sovereign European Ukraine group Oles Doniy is convinced Poroshenko already has the required number of votes for the adoption of amendments to the Constitution. “Threatened by reelection the Rada lost its capacity of a counterweight to the president. Both Batkivshchyna and Svoboda, despite the assurances of their leaders, will support the presidential bill again. Before the first voting representatives of those factions firmly stated that they would give no votes, though they supported the document the very next day,” said Doniy in a conversation with Capital.

An independent MP, on condition of anonymity, also confirmed that there are enough votes for Poroshenko’s bill. “There is an understanding of decentralization shared with the president. The only remaining points are the technical issues regarding the mechanisms and the extent of the bill’s implementation. All factions and groups except for Batkivshchyna are “tuned” to constructive work,” he said.

As a reminder, MPs canceled their summer vacation and extended the current session to September 2. By this date, they must adopt changes to the Constitution in the first reading in order for them to be formally legalized in the fall.