Журнал Viche 2011 №1

№1, 2011

Volodymyr Shapoval: “By Legal Facilities and the “Refined” Method the Situation is Impossible to be Settled”

To declare or not the beginning of process of parliamentary elections is a dilemma which appeared before the Central Election Commission in connection with the “reanimation” of the Constitution of Ukraine dated 1996, according to which the cadence of the composition of the parliament makes four years. However, positive verdict of the Constitutional Court in relation to the bill on amending the Basic Law in part of five-year term of appointments of deputies and the president and accordingly previous support by the parliament of such change for many members of the CEC withdrew from the agenda the question about the beginning of the electoral campaign already on November, 22 2010. Only to four members of the CEC(from those who were present at the corresponding meeting) the situation did not seem to be well-defined as the parliament has once again to vote for the bill on amending at the next session, and it will be not sooner than February, 2011. Will there be then 300 voices to confirm the previous decision of the parliament? And what if not? In particular, this issue induced four of the CEC members to defend the position in relation to the decision-making, by which the start would have been given to the electoral process for the election of national deputies of Ukraine in March, 2011. Decision was not made.

However, it was reasonable to ask the guest of the editor’s office the member-correspondent of the NAS of Ukraine, Head of the Central Election Committee Volodymyr Shapoval, who was on the business trip during the mentioned meeting, if he would have been the fifth?

– Yes, I would have been the fifth. However, if frankly speaking, my actions would have had to some extent conditional character. I will explain. Firstly, in the situation created there is no irreproachable legal answer to the question - to declare or not the beginning of parliamentary electoral campaign exactly on November, 22, 2010. Because according to the corresponding reform which was initiated by the heroic actions of the Constitutional Court, we received a difficult legal situation which includes, in particular, the question when to conduct regular elections of national deputies. From one side, there is the regulation of the Constitution in the edition of 1996 about the conducting of regular elections of national deputies of Ukraine on the last Sunday of March of the fourth year of plenary powers, and from another side, there is the regulation pursuant to which national deputies are elected for five years was in force when the election of the present composition of the Verkhovna Rada was carried out. By legal facilities and the “refined” method the mentioned collision is impossible to be settled.