Ukraine opposition opposes key EU association legislation

Ukraine’s opposition parties don’t support the president’s bill to amend the Ukrainian Constitution in order to strengthen guarantees for the independence of judges, said Serhiy Vlasenko, the deputy chair of the Fatherland party and lead defense attorney for former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. “It’s a profanation that has no relation to European laws,” he said, as reported by the Interfax-Ukraine news service on September 14.

“I carefully looked at their bills on the state prosecution and amending the constitution for the judiciary. This is an ordinary strengthening of Asian-African authoritarianism and has no relation to European legislation,” Vlasenko said. On September 5, the opposition voted in support of sending to the Constitutional Court that very same bill, which proposes amending the Constitution in order to strengthen guarantees for the independence of judges. Yet Vlasenko said the opposition won’t support it for implementation, even in the first reading.

Zenon Zawada: Besides Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych being unwilling to arrange for the release of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, a conflict between the ruling majority and the opposition is the next biggest threat to undermine the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement. The Presidential Administration and ruling majority is taking advantage of its newly embraced pro-Western position – shared by the opposition – to push through legislation that might meet EU standards (and perhaps barely, at that) but doesn’t give the opposition the political ability to mount a serious challenge in elections.

The opposition has to vote in favor of all the ruling majority’s EU Association bills so as not to lose the support of its electorate, which overwhelmingly supports EU integration. At the same time, it has to put up some resistance to the ruling majority so as not to be taken advantage of (in approving legislation that hurts them in the long term). Yet in this game, any step too far to the left or right might end up costing the Presidential Administration the legislation it needs to get the Association Agreement signed.