Mykola Tomenko, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, commented on the bill "On the Fundamentals of Domestic and Foreign Policy" registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and submitted by the President of Ukraine. He stated: "The document is interesting not only from the point of view of election promises of Viktor Yanukovych, President of Ukraine, but also in its comparison with another strategy document submitted by Mykola Azarov and supported by the Parliament the Law "On the State Program of Economic and Social Development of Ukraine for 2010."
M. Tomenko emphasised that both documents "are strategic and indicate the way of Ukraine´s development." Though, Mykola Tomenko declared that "if one compares the so-called world-view element in them, it would be noticeable that approaches of the Government and the President considerably differ."
In particular, M. Tomenko reminded that in the course of the discussion of the Law "On the State Program of Economic and Social Development of Ukraine for 2010", during the first reading and elaboration for the second reading, he drew attention to the lack of the constitutional norms regarding support of Ukrainian language and culture. "However, despite all the protests, the program was adopted in the suggested version without these amendments or any of the norms envisaging support and development of the Ukrainian language, historical traditions, etc", he emphasised.
The Deputy Chairman believes it contradictory that clause 10 "Fundamentals of the Domestic Policy in the Humanitarian Sector" of the President´s bill is actually copied from the Constitution, from which only those norms suggested by him during the elaboration of the Governmental Program in the second reading were taken.
M. Tomenko also stated that the chapter on education, in contrast to the Governmental Program that envisaged only general introduction of enhanced quality of education according to the European standards, strictly determines "reforms and development of the modern educational system, provision of their integration in the European and world educational community, as well as implementation of the principles and standards of Bologna process."
The bill defined the concept of culture as "renovation of the spiritual values of Ukrainian nation, protection and increase of its cultural inheritance, protection of the national history, etc", though the Governmental program does not contain such terminology at all, M. Tomenko reminded.
Among problematic norms included into the President´s bill, the Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine singled out "ambiguous apprehension of the necessity to alter the administrative-territorial division."
"It is obvious that the President´s team decided not to hasten the problem, as reimbursement of citizens´ savings as "step-by-step" liquidation of obligations of the state for the citizens with the depreciated savings means that the process would be complex and time-consuming", M. Tomenko is convinced.
Moreover, according to him, the rhetoric of the authorities regarding formation of the federation is alarming. "The task of "restoration and protection of cultural originality of regions" term from the category of federative doctrines as the approach of preserving cultural diversity of national minorities has always been protected in Ukraine", he emphasised.
Furthermore, one of the leading problems of the bill "On the Fundamentals of Domestic and Foreign Policy" is its non-compliance with the program principles of the parties that form the presidential and governmental coalition, as a number of its provisions directly contradict the election programs of the parties, at least that of the Communist Party of Ukraine.