Zelensky signs law on pan-Ukrainian referendum

President Volodymyr Zelensky signed into law the bill
on referendum on April 8. According to a notice on the president’s website, the
new law enables the government to act upon the provisions of the Constitution
of Ukraine regarding referendums. It was created in consultation with the
Venice Commission to incorporate European practice on the matter.

In the release, the limitations on referendums are
laid out. These include issues connected to the sovereignty and territorial
integrity of the country, as well as taxation and threats to national security.
It is possible to change the results of a referendum with another referendum
three years after the first was held. Referendums are not allowed to be voted
upon in conjunction with presidential elections.

James Hydzik: President Zelensky has made good on his campaign promise of making
referendums possible. This should please his supporters in the south and east of
the country, but if they look into the details, it might not be all they’d
hoped for at election time. The time frames involved might also be a
disappointment for politicians looking at stoking knee-jerk reactions from the
populace. Still, this is a referendum law and not an opinion poll, so the use
of it carries weight that can have disastrous effects if the voters are
under-informed and/or tainted with propaganda from an aggressor nation.