Efforts to adopt a new Constitution will delay the implementation of reforms in Ukraine, ICPS expert said

Political reform needs to be moved ahead without any efforts to cancel the Constitutional amendments that are already in force. Such efforts are likely to destabilize the political situation in Ukraine and postpone the opportunity to implement systemic changes in the country, says International Centre for Policy Studies policy analyst Ivan Presniakov.

Adopting a new Constitution will mean renewed three-way debate on the distribution of powers between the Verkhovna Rada, the Government and the Presidency. In any case, the majority of seats in the future Verkhovna Rada are likely to go to the parties that voted for the Bill No2222 and are not interested in reopening this debate.

If Nasha Ukraina forms a coalition in the Verkhovna Rada involving the Socialist Party, the National Bloc of Lytvyn or even the Party of the Regions, any attempts by the president to adopt a new Constitution or to cancel Bill No2222 would destabilize this coalition. Rather than this combination, the Verkhovna Rada is likely to then form an anti-presidential “coalition of protectors of the Constitution” that would include the Party of the Regions, the Socialist Party, the Communist Party, and the National Bloc Lytvyn.

Since Ukraine’s lawmakers will not be interested in having the legislature dissolved by the president, this VR coalition may very well not fall apart. But its participants will not support any legislative initiatives from the Government or the president, and the ensuing political struggle will distract the country’s elected representatives from carrying out reforms.

A compromise position for all political forces could be to continue with political reform by adopting additional amendments to the Constitution to reform the system of local government in Ukraine, the laws on the Verkhovna Rada and on the Cabinet of Ministers and so on, says Mr. Presniakov.