This plenary week the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has made the decision on cancellation of the next elections of deputies of local councils and rural, town, city chairmen in 2010. 250 people's deputies voted for the corresponding decision. The unprecedented decision on prolongation of powers of the Kiev City Council after extraordinary elections in spring of 2008 and absence of the voted budget for the current year which disable election campaign financing became the basic motive for this decision.

 

The European Party of Ukraine considers that the Parliament, having cancelled the decision about appointment of the next elections of deputies of local councils and rural, town, city chairmen in 2010 operated outside the limits of the powers and roughly broke norms of the Constitution of Ukraine. We declare that the decision to cancel local elections without appointment of another date this year deprives citizens of Ukraine of the right to elect the powers and to rule the state that is accurately registered in the Article 38 of the Constitution of Ukraine.

Remembering the events of March of the last year when the Parliament cancelled extraordinary elections in the Ternopil Regional Council, the European Party of Ukraine considers to be its civic duty to remind all involved that the Constitutional Court of Ukraine accurately defined on June, 10th, 2009 illegitimacy of their cancellation and specified in absence of powers by the deputies of the Verkhovna Rada to make similar decisions. It is obvious that for 250 people's choices the highest judicial instance of the state means nothing. They consider it possible to ignore interpretation of the Constitution of Ukraine that is inadmissible and inapplicable to a rank of the People's Deputy of Ukraine.

 

Besides we remind initiators and authors of the illegal decision that the legal nature of elections for local governments is one of the basic forms of direct democracy in any country of the world. In infringement of terms of carrying out of such elections, their cancellation, or carrying over on the motives, not provided by law, is infringement of citizens’ electoral rights.

 

The European Party of Ukraine applies to the Parliament to return to the question on appointment of the next elections of deputies of local councils and rural, town, city chairmen in 2010 immediately, during the following plenary week. Any legal grounds for procrastination of such decision or its not acceptances do not exist for today.

 

Otherwise we will be compelled to apply to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and to the public with the demand to secure to us the Constitutional Law for realisation of citizens’ electoral rights with the purpose of participation in the state management.