Ukraine court begins hearing Kyiv elections complaint

The Constitutional Court of Ukraine began on April 11 reviewing a complaint filed by 48 MPs of the ruling Party of Regions claiming that the elections for the Kyiv City Council and its chair should be held in 2015, along with the rest of the nation’s local elections. Their complaint is supported by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and the Justice Ministry. Opposition MPs argued in court yesterday that elections must occur in June 2013, when the five-year term of the Kyiv City Council expires. The term for the Kyiv city council chair, or mayor, expired in June 2012. Should the Court rule in favor of the majority MPs, the opposition MPs said they will create local government committees in Kyiv’s districts, which will form the basis of alternative (pseudo) elections.

Zenon Zawada: President Yanukovych and the parliamentary majority don’t want to hold elections in June because they stand to lose control of the capital to the opposition, which would win handily, according to polls. Control of the capital is critical for the 2015 presidential election, which could feature a repeat of the 2004 protests that overthrew the government. The bigger issue is how the EU leadership will react to a court ruling that will postpone elections until 2015, and whether such a ruling will affect the signing of the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement. EU leaders have yet to comment on the case. The Constitutional Court is expected to rule in favor of the ruling party since Yanukovych has demonstrated numerous times throughout his presidential term that he has undue influence over the Court’s members.