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Parliament speaker signs new election law
Journal Staff Report

KIEV, Sept. 9 – Controversial legislation governing the next presidential election in Ukraine was put in effect on Tuesday, Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn said Wednesday.

The legislation, which among other things restricts involvement of public organizations in vote counting, had been twice vetoed by President Viktor Yushchenko. It was put into effect after its signing by Lytvyn.

This is the first time the speaker of Parliament has used his power to sign legislation into law, underscoring deep divisions over the matter between lawmakers and the president.

Lytvyn, who last week had said he wasn’t going to sign it, signed the legislation late Tuesday. It was immediately published by Parliament’s Website and is expected to be printed by Parliament’s official newspaper, Holos Ukrayiny, on Thursday.

“So, it has come into effect on Tuesday,” Lytvyn said in an interview with the National Radio broadcast on Wednesday.

The development may trigger a chain of events that may cause political turbulence, clashes and lengthy court battles over the election, further complicating political situation in Ukraine.

Yushchenko pledged to appeal the law in the Constitutional Court claiming the legislation has been contradicting the constitution.

Meanwhile, even Lytvyn confirmed on Wednesday that the legislation contains issues that will be probably be rejected by the Constitutional Court, predicting a bumpy election ahead.

“I do not rule out, moreover, I am convinced that there are reasons for the Constitutional Court to define that some clauses of the law to be unconstitutional,” Lytvyn said, adding that the election may be “disorganized.”

“This will give reasons to those who are not happy with the election results to contest them in court,” Lytvyn said. “There will be a standoff that will begin after the first round of voting.”

The law, which was advocated by Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych, de-facto, gives their political groups – as opposed to public organizations - more power in crucial issues, such as vote counting.

The legislation also reduces time of campaigning to 90 days from 120 days, makes it extremely difficult to vote by Ukrainians living overseas and allows adding new people to voter lists on the day of the vote, which may lead to fraud.

The legislation is a major setback for Arseniy Yatseniuk, a popular former speaker of Parliament and a potential presidential candidate, who does not have a strong party backing him, unlike Tymoshenko and Yanukovych.

The legislation was approved at an emergency session of Parliament last month as lawmakers loyal to Tymoshenko and Yanukovych had joined forces to override the veto from the president.

But Yushchenko still refused to sign the legislation, allowing the speaker of Parliament for the first time to use the power of signing the bill into law.

Tymoshenko and Yanukovych, the biggest rivals at the election due January 17, 2010, joined forces to approve the controversial legislation after their attempts to make amendment to the constitution had failed.

Tymoshenko and Yanukovych on several occasions joined forces in a clash with Yushchenko, including the attempt to schedule the presidential election on November 24, 2009, or three months earlier than is required by the constitution.

But Yushchenko prevailed by submitting the appeal to the Constitutional Court, forcing lawmakers to approve the January 17, 2010 as the date for the next presidential election. (tl/ez)




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