Hands off the Constitution! Statement of the Organizing Committee of the Civic Assembly of Ukraine
Given that on the eve of the presidential elections, the permanent political crisis of recent years and political infighting in Ukraine may lead to yet another destructive and anti-legal changes to the Constitution we, the citizens of Ukraine, representatives of public organizations, do not trust the Verkhovna Rada to introduce any changes to the Constitution, except for the introduction of a constituent body of power!
The current Fundamental Law does not allow the deputies of this convocation either to elect the President in the Verkhovna Rada, or to arbitrarily extend and expand their powers, or to abolish the people's right to elect the head of state.
We resolutely object to such intentions or attempts and consider them an encroachment on the constitutional order, the foundations of Ukrainian democracy and inalienable civil rights.
Introducing changes to the current edition of the Constitution on the basis of any coalition agreement will lead to the narrowing and unacceptable for democracy restriction of the rights of Ukrainian citizens. Documentary confirmation of this is the draft Law of Ukraine "On Introducing a Change to the Constitution of Ukraine" published by "Dzerkalo Tyzhnia" ().
The decisions of the Verkhovna Rada deputies regarding: • the election of the President in the Verkhovna Rada, • the extension of the term of office of deputies of councils of all levels, • holding elections of deputies by party lists in two rounds, • introducing changes to the Constitution bypassing the constituent power — all of this is an irresponsible step that will inevitably worsen the political and economic situation in the country, put Ukrainian statehood at risk and lead to confrontation within society.
To immediately eliminate the danger of socio-political destabilization of the country, we call on representatives of all factions of the Verkhovna Rada to immediately institutionalize the body of constituent power — the Constitutional Assembly, which alone will be authorized to adopt changes to the Constitution.
In the event of changes to the Constitution being introduced on the basis of closed-door backroom agreements that lead to the restriction of the rights and freedoms of citizens, we will initiate appropriate protest actions to counteract such a constitutional coup and to punish the rebels.
THE POLITICAL JUNTA WILL NOT PASS! THE CONSTITUTION IS THE PEOPLE'S AFFAIR!
Organizing Committee of the Civic Assembly of Ukraine
* * * The Civic Assembly of Ukraine is an initiative aimed at creating national and regional platforms for discussion, consolidation and expression of positions of representatives of public organizations regarding the strategic problems of Ukrainian society. The activities of the CAU are based on the principles of responsibility, openness, objectivity, solidarity and independence from the political positions of the participants. Organizational and financial support for the activities of the Civic Assembly of Ukraine is provided by the International Renaissance Foundation.
Contacts: Andriy Kohut Secretary of the Organizing Committee of the Civic Assembly of Ukraine Tel.: +38 063 617 97 05 E-mail: assembly@gau.org.ua