Ukraine's constitutional court opens hearings into president's decree dissolving parliament
17 April 2007
Published in International Herald Tribune / AP
Ukraine's Constitutional Court on Tuesday stepped into the standoff over the pro-Western president's controversial decree to dissolve parliament and call early elections, opening a hearing into the legality of the order.
Yushchenko has defended his two-week-old decree as necessary to prevent the usurpation of power by his archrival, Premier Viktor Yanukovych. Yanukovych and his majority in the 450-seat parliament have defied the order and appealed to the court to resolve the matter.
Ukraine's Constitutional Court on Tuesday stepped into the standoff over the pro-Western president's controversial decree to dissolve parliament and call early elections, opening a hearing into the legality of the order.
Yushchenko has defended his two-week-old decree as necessary to prevent the usurpation of power by his archrival, Premier Viktor Yanukovych. Yanukovych and his majority in the 450-seat parliament have defied the order and appealed to the court to resolve the matter.
The stalemate has become the worst political crisis
in this ex-Soviet republic since the 2004 Orange
Revolution, and government business has ground to a
halt. Yushchenko and Yanukovych were both out of
the country on Tuesday, meeting separately with
officials from the European Union and the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to
drum up support.
The 18-judge Constitutional Court has complained of enormous political pressure, and many lawmakers questioned whether it is capable of issuing a decision that all sides will honor. Earlier, five judges said they would recuse themselves but all 18 judges were present at the opening hearing.
Yushchenko sent a letter to the court complaining about alleged corruption on the part of Judge Syuzanna Stanik. She denied the charges and told her fellow judges that she would not step down.
"Any pressure on the judges is a violation of the principles of democracy and the Ukrainian constitution," Yanukovych told reporters in Strasbourg, France, before addressing the Council of Europe. He called on Yushchenko to suspend his decree pending the court ruling. The court has one month to consider the matter, but with elections slated for May 27, the judges have been asked to move faster. A decision requires the consent of 10 judges.
Yanukovych said in Strasbourg he hoped the court will rule "in the nearest future." The court agreed to work as fast as possible.
But the debate got off to a slow start with discussions over what sort of information would be considered and who could participate. Court representatives for Yushchenko and Yanukovych accused each other of trying to drag out the proceedings.
"Society expects constructive work from the Constitutional Court, but if we work like this, they'll be waiting a long time," said Chief Judge Ivan Dombrovsky.
The stakes are high for this nation of 47 million.
Yanukovych said he would honor any decision of the court, but warned that if the court declares Yushchenko's order unconstitutional, his parliamentary coalition might begin impeachment proceedings against the president.
Ukraine's main opposition leader, Yulia Tymoshenko, who supports the president's decree, called the court too tainted to make a just ruling, making it increasingly unlikely that a legal decision will be enough to end the impasse. Outside the courthouse, several hundred demonstrators from the rival sides gathered, waving party flags.
Lyudmyla Stepenenko, a 24-year-old psychologist, carried a flag of Yanukovych's coalition partner, the Socialists, and said she came to the courthouse to protest against new elections, which she called a waste of money. On the other side of the police line, Oleh Sokha, a 20- year-old student from western Ukraine, was there to support the presidential order. "We are against the parliament which betrayed its own people," he said.
Yushchenko signed the dissolution decree after 11 lawmakers left pro-presidential factions to join Yanukovych's parliamentary majority, bringing him closer to the 300- seat majority necessary to override presidential vetoes. Yushchenko called it a revision of voters' will from last year's parliamentary election.
Yanukovych agreed to return to the number of lawmakers his coalition had earlier, but the president has refused to back down on his call for new elections, saying he would only agree to postpone the date.
The 18-judge Constitutional Court has complained of enormous political pressure, and many lawmakers questioned whether it is capable of issuing a decision that all sides will honor. Earlier, five judges said they would recuse themselves but all 18 judges were present at the opening hearing.
Yushchenko sent a letter to the court complaining about alleged corruption on the part of Judge Syuzanna Stanik. She denied the charges and told her fellow judges that she would not step down.
"Any pressure on the judges is a violation of the principles of democracy and the Ukrainian constitution," Yanukovych told reporters in Strasbourg, France, before addressing the Council of Europe. He called on Yushchenko to suspend his decree pending the court ruling. The court has one month to consider the matter, but with elections slated for May 27, the judges have been asked to move faster. A decision requires the consent of 10 judges.
Yanukovych said in Strasbourg he hoped the court will rule "in the nearest future." The court agreed to work as fast as possible.
But the debate got off to a slow start with discussions over what sort of information would be considered and who could participate. Court representatives for Yushchenko and Yanukovych accused each other of trying to drag out the proceedings.
"Society expects constructive work from the Constitutional Court, but if we work like this, they'll be waiting a long time," said Chief Judge Ivan Dombrovsky.
The stakes are high for this nation of 47 million.
Yanukovych said he would honor any decision of the court, but warned that if the court declares Yushchenko's order unconstitutional, his parliamentary coalition might begin impeachment proceedings against the president.
Ukraine's main opposition leader, Yulia Tymoshenko, who supports the president's decree, called the court too tainted to make a just ruling, making it increasingly unlikely that a legal decision will be enough to end the impasse. Outside the courthouse, several hundred demonstrators from the rival sides gathered, waving party flags.
Lyudmyla Stepenenko, a 24-year-old psychologist, carried a flag of Yanukovych's coalition partner, the Socialists, and said she came to the courthouse to protest against new elections, which she called a waste of money. On the other side of the police line, Oleh Sokha, a 20- year-old student from western Ukraine, was there to support the presidential order. "We are against the parliament which betrayed its own people," he said.
Yushchenko signed the dissolution decree after 11 lawmakers left pro-presidential factions to join Yanukovych's parliamentary majority, bringing him closer to the 300- seat majority necessary to override presidential vetoes. Yushchenko called it a revision of voters' will from last year's parliamentary election.
Yanukovych agreed to return to the number of lawmakers his coalition had earlier, but the president has refused to back down on his call for new elections, saying he would only agree to postpone the date.