On April 9, parliamentary hearings on political reform were held within the walls of the Verkhovna Rada. Representatives of mass media, non-governmental organizations, local self-government bodies, and diplomats of foreign states were invited to participate in the parliamentary hearings. \n \nRepresentatives of public organizations of Volyn also attended the parliamentary hearings. \n \nIn his introductory remarks, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Volodymyr Lytvyn, emphasized that the holding of these hearings was prompted by life itself, and that constitutional reform is a demand of the times. \n \nThe co-chairs of the Temporary Special Commission of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on the refinement of draft laws on amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine, Hennadii Vasyliev - First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and Oleksandr Moroz - People's Deputy of Ukraine, reported at the hearings. \n \nIn particular, O. Moroz expressed sharp criticism regarding the submission of the President's proposals for nationwide discussion. He noted that: "Submitting the draft law On Amendments and Additions to the Constitution for consideration by the population is the same as submitting the internal structure of a computer for consideration by the population." He proposed leaving the parliament unicameral with a membership of 450 deputies; holding elections to all levels of councils under a proportional system; granting the right to form a coalition (governing majority) to the political force that received the largest number of votes in the elections; appointing the Prime Minister by the parliament; electing rather than appointing heads of regional state administrations. \n \nThe Chairman of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on State Building and Local Self-Government, Anatolii Matviienko, assessed the President's constitutional draft as a means of remaining in office for a further, extra-constitutional term. He stated that the main goal of political reform should be changing the electoral model of the parliament. \n \nThe presidential point of view was defended by the President's representative in the parliament, O. Zadorozhnyi, and the Minister of Justice, O. Lavrynovych. \n \nRepresentatives from all factions of the parliament participated in the discussion of the reports and co-reports. Probably the most interesting and most emotional was the speech by the leader of the "Our Ukraine" faction, Viktor Yushchenko. In particular, he emphasized that those who propose reform must possess, at a minimum, the trust of the population, and the level of trust in the President is only 6 percent. The main thesis of Yushchenko's speech: "We don't need to change the Constitution - we need to change the government!". V. Yushchenko also noted that "Our Ukraine" is categorically against holding a referendum on changing the Constitution. \n \nThe opinion of public organizations was represented by Anatolii Hrytsenko - president of the Ukrainian Center for Economic and Political Studies named after O. Razumkov. He criticized the president's draft law and presented the proposals of the Razumkov Center regarding political reform. Based on the results of the center's sociological research, he called the proposal to reduce the number of deputies to 300 populist. He expressed confidence that if the population were offered to change the number of parliament members to 20, the people would certainly support such a decision as well. \n \nThe speeches of Leonid Kravchuk and Yuliia Tymoshenko were also interesting. \n \nThe substantive spectrum of the speeches turned out to be as broad as possible. From proposals for the immediate change of government to opinions about the complete acceptability of the existing political system. And yet most speakers approached the problem from constructive positions. The presidential proposals on bicameralism and grounds for dissolving the parliament were qualified as dubious. In this connection, a wish was expressed that a separate discussion of the draft take place at a meeting of parliamentarians and the presidential administration. It was about the inadmissibility of delays in the preparation and adoption of laws on the President, on the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, and on improving legislation on local self-government. \n \nOn the whole, it was asserted that reforming the political system of Ukraine and making corresponding amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine should be based on the ideas of further development of democracy, Ukraine's transition from a presidential-parliamentary to a parliamentary-presidential republic, approximation to European standards of state governance, increasing the effectiveness of activity and accountability to society of state power bodies, and the real establishment of local self-government. \n \nThe Temporary Special Commission on the elaboration of amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine was recommended to proceed from the provisions, in particular, that it is inexpedient to enshrine in the Fundamental Law the concepts of parliamentary majority and parliamentary opposition as such that should be regulated by separate laws. That the unicameral parliament should be preserved; the existing terms for which the President, People's Deputies of Ukraine, deputies of local councils, village, settlement and city heads are elected; the existing subjects and procedure for holding all-Ukrainian referendums. That it is worth introducing the responsibility of the parliament of Ukraine regarding ensuring the effective functioning of executive power bodies while simultaneously endowing the parliament with powers that would allow it, through the government it forms, to exert real influence on state administration, domestic and foreign policy of the state. That the candidate for the post of Prime Minister of Ukraine should be determined as a person who enjoys the support of the majority of parliament deputies and is capable of forming and submitting for approval to the parliament the composition of the government of Ukraine that will enjoy the trust of the parliament. That the entire composition of the government of Ukraine should be formed by the parliament and the government should be accountable and controlled by it. That the powers of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine regarding granting consent to the appointment and dismissal by the President of Ukraine of the head of the State Tax Administration of Ukraine, the head of the Security Service of Ukraine, the head of the State Border Service, and the head of the State Customs Service should be enshrined. That local executive power bodies should be subordinated to the government of Ukraine with the transfer to the Prime Minister of Ukraine of the right to appoint and dismiss the heads of these bodies. That the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine should be endowed with the right to control the formation of revenues of the State Budget of Ukraine, and so on. \n \nIt was also about the fact that the draft law on amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine refined on the basis of the specified provisions (the parliament's agreed version) should be submitted for consideration to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in the third decade of May 2003 for preliminary approval and referral for conclusion to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.