Yushchenko Finds Loophole To Block Law Weakening His Powers?

President Viktor Yushchenko sent a letter to the Rada yesterday claiming that he had the right to veto a law giving some of his powers to the government a second time because the version of the law given to his office differed from the law voted on in parliament and could thus be looked at as a new law.  Last Friday the Rada led by the Party of Regions and Tymoshenko Block voted to overturn Yushchenko’s veto on a law concerning the powers of the Cabinet that will strengthen the powers of the Prime Minister and weaken those of the President.  According to the constitution Yushchenko is now required to sign the law by Monday or the law can be signed into law by the Rada speaker. Nick Piazza: Despite the lawyers at the Presidential Secretariat’s best efforts the law is still likely to become law.  Considering a law with some differences an entirely new law is quite a legal stretch. Should the Rada Speaker sign the law Tuesday, constitutionally it would likely stand up in court.  However, by threatening to veto the law Yushchenko might be able to get the government to agree to some changes in order to avoid the political uncertainty this kind of conflict would cause.  According to our sources Yanukovich and Yushchenko met behind closed doors to discuss the situation yesterday.