Turning the pages back... June 28, 1997 (06/25/00)

Turning the pages back...

June 28, 1997

Three years ago, The Ukrainian Weekly published an editorial marking the first anniversary of the adoption of the new Constitution of Ukraine. The piece appeared on the occasion of Constitution Day, a national holiday in Ukraine. Following are excerpts from the editorial.

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Following a marathon session that stretched into the night of June 27-28, 1999, the national deputies in Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada succeeded, finally, in adopting the independent state's first Constitution.

The historic act came less than two months before Ukraine was to mark the fifth anniversary of its proclamation of independence. Just a week earlier, national democratic deputies had said they had little hope this Verkhovna Rada could adopt a new Constitution, and there was talk that President Leonid Kuchma might be forced to try his hand at having the new fundamental law approved via national referendum. Indeed, most observers credit the president with nudging the Parliament into action as he decreed on June 27 that a national referendum would be held. Determined to show that they were not superfluous in this process, the deputies vowed they would pass the Constitution; they did so, working non-stop on June 27 through the morning of June 28.

Afterwards, President Kuchma thanked the deputies for their efforts during the laborious process and asked them to accept his apology "for stimulating this process in perhaps not the most conventional way." "But," he added, "this last event proved that we, in a critical moment, are worthy of being called the representatives of the Ukrainian people." Chairman Moroz later responded with gratitude to the president "for his constant and perhaps at times somewhat original participation in the constitutional process." (Both comments drew laughter and applause in the Parliament.)

But, the new fundamental law was historic not only because of the way it was passed, or the timing of its adoption, but also because of its contents. Its provisions were designed to turn Ukraine into a democratic, law-governed state and to build a new post-Soviet social order in which an individual's rights are paramount. It guaranteed human rights and liberties, established a Western-style judicial system, provided for separation of powers between branches of government, enshrined the right to private property, and laid a foundation for Ukraine's foreign policy. But it was merely the framework for the transformation that was to come.

Source: "Constitution Day," editorial, The Ukrainian Weekly, June 22, 1997, Vol. LXV, No. 25.

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