Poroshenko Stirs Up Talk of Reversing Constitutional Reforms.

Channel 5, the television channel owned by Petro Poroshenko, a leading Our Ukraine MP, reported yesterday that a group of Our Ukraine MPs were planning to ask the Constitutional Court to cancel the changes to the constitution that came into effect this year, which weakened the presidency and strengthened the prime minister and parliament. The channel said 45 Our Ukraine MPs were ready to sign the appeal, the minimum number needed for the court to open a case. However, no MPs were named or quoted directly. Also, the president’s representative to the court said that, in his opinion, the court had the right to hear such an appeal despite the fact that the president last week signed a law specifically banning the court from hearing any challenges to the constitutional changes. Tom Warner: We see this as bluster and not a serious threat. Poroshenko didn’t get any position in the Cabinet and so he is kicking up a fuss. We doubt there are 45 Our Ukraine MPs who are willing to directly challenge Yanukovich in this way, and we doubt Yushchenko would support them, as Yanukovich could retaliate by sacking most of Yushchenko’s allies from the Cabinet. We also doubt there are any MPs outside Our Ukraine who would support such an appeal in the foreseeable future. As for the president’s representative to the court, he is right, of course – if the parliament could ban the Constitutional Court from reviewing legislation, there would be no point having the court.