Volodymyr Lytvyn: It is necessary to meet the Recommendations of the Venice Commission, implementing the Laws on Election
Volodymyr Lytvyn, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, met Gianni Buquicchio, the President of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) on Thursday.
The participants of the meeting discussed prospective cooperation of Ukraine with the Venice Commission on the constitutional-legal modernization of Ukraine, implementation of recommendations of this European institution in the sphere of effective and independent legal system formation in Ukraine.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada highly appreciated activity of the Venice Commission and its Board, adding that their activity is utterly essential for Ukraine in this responsible period. "We thoroughly analyse the conclusions and recommendations of the Commission", he stressed.
On his part, Gianni Buquicchio stated, "The Venice Commission has always been an old friend of Ukraine, and will always issue its recommendations concerning important matters." He expressed content with the level of cooperation with the Parliament of Ukraine.
The Head of the Venice Commission positively appreciated achievements and intentions of our state to solve pressing problems. Still, he mentioned, "Ukraine would have been in a better situation if you had managed to achieve stability with the Constitution, reform the judicial power and fight corruption."
Mr. Buquicchio emphasized that reforms of the judicial system and corruption counteraction are interconnected.
Discussing the legal matters, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine stated that Ukrainian society is indifferent towards future changes in the Ukrainian legislation. One of the reasons of such situation is that "authorities are beyond control and do not depend on people." He emphasized that the Law on elections is necessary not for the politicians or political parties, but for the public first of all.
The Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament agreed to the declarations of the Venice Commission Board concerning deficiencies of a new parliamentary elections law, which envisages a mixed majoritarian-proportional election system, as it "does not meet the requirements of the society."
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine suggested considering recommendations of the Venice Commission, while finalizing the election law in September and October 2011.