Ukraine constitutional commission submits its amendments

The Constitutional Commission of Ukraine approved on June 26 constitutional amendments on decentralization, which take into account the recommendations of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) of the Council of Europe. Among the proposals is that the president appoints and dismisses the heads of newly created prefects at the recommendation of the Cabinet of Ministers, reported the pravda.com.ua news site. The prefects are subject to the president’s authority but report to the Cabinet.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on television on June 26 that he’d submit the legislation to amend the Constitution to parliament by June 30. Attending the commission the same day, he said he accepts its draft as his version and will sign it. “The fact that I am expressing a position on approving it is a guarantee that I support it either fully, or to a large extent,” he said. “Next week, I will propose that parliament review the new version that you developed. To review it, vote on it and send it to the Constitutional Court,” he said, noting that the proposals on decentralization are based on the Polish model.

The newly created prefects will have the authority to monitor and coordinate the work of local state bodies, as well as ensure the fulfillment of state programs, Presidential Administration First Deputy head Vitaliy Kovalchuk told the 5 Channel network on June 28. They will have less authority than the current regional administrations, he said, part of whose powers will shift to executive committees. Prefects will be responsible for ensuring that the actions of self-governing bodies will adhere to the Constitution and the laws of Ukraine, he said, as well as fulfilling state programs and coordinating the activity of self-governing bodies.

Zenon Zawada: Decentralization is needed in Ukraine. But the type that’s needed – which would grant substantial authority to local governments, particularly in the spheres of taxation and spending – can’t be conducted in a time of war, which requires a well-empowered central authority to coordinate the nation’s defense, we beleive.

Instead, what we have are amendments that don’t propose a significant decentralization in authority. The newly created prefects and executive committees very much resemble the existing regional and district administrations. Our hope that is these amendments, if approved by parliament, will merely be a transition towards the real kind of decentralization that will be possible once the war is over.