Ukrainian president’s ally elected Constitutional Court chair

The Constitutional Court of Ukraine voted on July 18 to appoint Viacheslav Ovcharenko its chairman. Ovcharenko was appointed to the Constitutional Court in 2006 under the quota of the Party of Regions when current President Viktor Yanuokvych was prime minister. Before the appointment, Ovcharenko led the Yenakiyeve City Court as its chief judge since December 2002. Upon becoming judge, Ovcharenko issued a statement that he didn’t receive any documents confirming criminal convictions of Yanukovych, a native of Yenakiyeve in the Donetsk region. In the statement, he cited “the absence of appropriate security of the premises” as the reason for the disappearance of the records.

Zenon Zawada: With Ovcharenko’s appointment, Yanukovych has close allies in control of all of Ukraine’s key government organs necessary to maintain power beyond the 2015 presidential election. As Constitutional Court chair, Ovcharenko can influence the approval of any legislative changes intended to maintain Yanukovych in power, such as holding the 2015 election in one round or approving radical changes to the Constitution through referendum.

Ovcharenko’s election serves to undermine the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement, demonstrating to the EU leadership that Ukrainian leaders aren’t committed to Western values, such as checks and balances in government. It’s the accumulation of these violations to Western governing principles, which have surfaced on a weekly basis, which are undermining the signing of the Association Agreement in November. Had the Yanukovych administration and its leaders performed well in this respect, the release of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko would not carry nearly as much weight as it does now.