Mykola Tomenko: The President should determine the fate of the National Constitutional Council that has been headed by him for a year.
"Establishment of order in the system of public authorities and local self-government bodies can be secured only by introduction of amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine. At present, this statement is supported not only by the society, but also by all the political forces represented at the Parliament", - stated Mykola Tomenko, Vice-Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
By the above-mentioned statement, Mykola Tomenko commented on yesterday´s declaration of the President of Ukraine at the "ICTV" Channel concerning necessity "to establish a national commission of parliamentary and non-parliamentary forces, experts in constitutional law, and authoritative public figures in charge of elaboration of a new version of the Constitution of Ukraine".
The Vice-Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine reminded that such a council had been already established on 27 December 2007, in compliance with the Decree of the President of Ukraine №1294/2007 "On the National Constitutional Council".
"Thus, the Council is headed by the President of Ukraine, and includes representatives of parliamentary Factions, other political parties, regional councils, the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, national human rights organizations of Ukraine", - stated Mykola Tomenko.
"Therefore, since the President upholds the idea of amending the Constitution, he should either suggest that the effective National Constitutional Council facilitate its activity, or dissolve the Council, form a new one and start the work afresh. However, it is a positive fact that Viktor Yushchenko upholds the idea of immediate amending the Fundamental Law of Ukraine", - stated the Vice-Chairman.