Yushchenko Promises To Hold Referendum On Constitutional Reform.

In his state of the nation address in the Verkhovna Rada this morning President Viktor Yushchenko promised to put the new amendments to Ukraine’s constitution up for a referendum, and said that he would not ask the Constitutional Court to review the new amendments until after the March 26 Rada elections. Yushchenko also said that it was necessary for Ukraine to have a free trade zone with the European Union by 2007 in order to lessen the country’s economic dependence on Russia. Concorde Capital: If the latest opinion polls are correct (not always a small “if”) it would appear any referendum on the constitutional reforms would blow up in the President’s face, therefore this may just be a bit of political posturing. However, the President’s promisenot to put the reforms before the new Constitutional Court until after the elections is clearly a compromise that may pull the government and Rada out of gridlock.  As for  Yushchenko’s renewed push for a free trade zone with the EU, the President may be testing the waters in Europe following Russia’s misstep with the gas issue.