Zelensky intensifies demands to dismiss Constitutional Court

Ukrainian President Zelensky intensified his demands
on Nov. 2 that parliament approve his legislation to remove from authority all
the judges of the Constitutional Court, among other measures to deal with the
current political crisis. He told a television political show on Nov. 2 that he
will consider dismissing parliament if this demand was not met, particularly by
the members of his People’s Servant faction.

In a meeting with his loyal MPs earlier that day,
Zelensky warned of violence and bloodshed if his admittedly harsh measures were
not adopted, according to an audio recording obtained by the pravda.com.ua news
site. The Oct. 27 Constitutional Court ruling “in a matter of hours put the
country on the edge of catastrophe,” and represents “a direct and swift path to
bloodshed and conflicts on the streets,” Zelensky said. 

“It’s necessary to make harsh decisions on the
Constitutional Court. It’s mandatory! This is not even a request. Requests
aren’t made when values are destroyed. If I decide that the path to resolving
the crisis is possible only with a proposed bill, it needs to be supported
mandatorily. If we find another less conflictual path, another decision will be
made,” Zelensky said. He added, “If you vote for this solution, you will be voting
for the people. Otherwise, you are defending the judges of the Constitutional
Court.”

Zelensky also rejected proposals to restore the
anti-corruption infrastructure by means of legislative initiatives, insisting
that dismissing the judges is the only option to restore trust in the court.
“Any new decision by parliament that attempts to renew criminal penalties will
not be functional a priori. It doesn’t even need to be newly challenged in the
Constitutional Court. In this case, criminal charges for fraudulent
declarations will be absurd and won’t have force,” Zelensky told the MPs,
according to his website.

Zenon Zawada: We expect
parliament will call Zelensky’s bluff and will not offer enough votes to
support his proposal to reset the Constitutional Court. The last thing that
Zelensky needs is for parliament to be dismissed, which would create even
greater instability in a country already significantly destabilized. He
acknowledged this himself in his television remarks, citing current factors of
instability as the war in Donbas, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the poor economy.

As one of his arguments, Zelensky warned about the
loss of Western financial aid, the EU visa-free regime and the support of the
EU, NATO and IMF. But Western authorities are already indicating they oppose
dismissing the entire court. MP Iryna Herashchenko reported in a Nov. 2 column
that G7 ambassadors said they never discussed support for dismissing the court
in their meeting with David Arakhamia, who alleged he had their support.

Instead, legislation will gradually surface to restore
the anti-corruption apparatus without having to resort to measures that will
discredit the Ukrainian government even further. For instance, on Nov. 2,
Parliamentary Speaker Dmytro Razumkov presented a bill to renew the authorities
of the National Agency for Corruption Prevention, which were liquidated by the
scandalous Oct. 27 ruling. He has also drafted bills renewing anti-corruption
norms. The European Solidarity faction has registered a bill to renew criminal
penalties for filing fraudulent e-declarations, said Herashchenko, who proposed
this method as the best solution to the crisis.

In making his repeated, insistent demands to dismiss
the court, we believe Zelensky is fulfilling the wishes of his oligarch
backers, which include Ihor Kolomoisky and Rinat Akhmetov. In which case, it’s
very unfortunate to see these oligarchs continue to act against the national
interest in pursuing their narrow interests in loading influential state
institution with loyal officials. We continue to expect little positive in
Ukraine for as long as these people are running the show.