On Thursday, The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, O. Moroz, received The U.S. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Ukraine, Mr William Taylor.
At the Ambassador´s request, O. Moroz provided an analysis of the election campaign, calling it 'a ploy giving nothing to the State and bringing no changes in the Ukrainian political arena´. 'Each of the four Edicts by the President are unconstitutional, and sooner or later we shall receive the Judgement of the Constitutional Court,´ he said. ‘We must be governed by the Law.´
The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine criticized the President and his Secretariat for the constant violations of Law calling them ‘small-minded and primitive.´
The greatest danger, in his opinion, is that it is not the Membership of the new Verkhovna Rada that disturbs The President, but a new text of The Constitution´. According to O. Moroz, The President´s actions are ‘usurping of power.´
O. Moroz also emphasized that The Plenary Meeting on 4 September was held with full adherence to The Constitution of Ukraine and Ukrainian Law, and expressed his desire that a further meeting, scheduled for the following week, would also be held. Therefore, The President of Ukraine will have no grounds to use Clause 90 of The Constitution, according to which he is entitled to absolve Parliament if it fails to convene for Plenary Meetings for a period of 30 days.
Mr Taylor, in reply, stated that the USA would uphold any Government set up as a result of a fair and just election. At the same time he was concerned with the fairness of this election, referring to the provisions of Legislation regulating the voting at home and by those out of Ukraine at the time.
O. Moroz noted that the above Clauses were, on the contrary, aimed at preventing any possible falsification. ‘I doubt that the election will be fair, but the said Clauses will contribute to fair and just voting´, he said.
The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada informed Mr. Taylor that he had appealed to the Prosecutor General´s Office concerning serious shortcomings in the preparation of Electoral Rolls. In his opinion, these Rolls present the greatest source for falsification.
O. Moroz also emphasized that administrative resources were constantly in use by the President´s Secretariat and Local Administrations in various areas. He criticized The Leader of The State for his apparent breach of Presidential neutrality, supporting one of the political forces in this election campaign. ‘It is a pity that The President is now being manipulated by those who will be the first to leave him in the lurch during the coming Presidential Election campaign,´ he said.