Turning the pages back...

June 28, 1996

Five years ago the Ukrainian Parliament adopted a new Constitution of Ukraine - a historic moment for the five-year-old independent state - at 9:18 a.m. Friday, June 28, after an all-night intense marathon session in the halls of the legislature.

"We have a Constitution," proclaimed Parliament Chairman Oleksander Moroz, after the deputies voted 315-36, with 12 absentions, to adopt the fundamental law. The jubilant lawmakers responded with resounding applause and a standing ovation, while the newly adopted anthem "Sche Ne Vmerla Ukraina," was played in the chambers.

Despite a 16-hour plenary session - which began at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday evening and ended 9:30 a.m. Friday morning with no breaks - the mood among the lawmakers was euphoric, as they posed for a group picture outside the Supreme Council building to mark this historic occasion. They then made their way to the parliamentary buffet for champagne victory toasts, where they spent hours laughing and singing old Kozak songs, an atmosphere reminiscent of the day when the Parliament declared Ukraine's independence on August 24, 1991.

The deputies also passed a resolution declaring June 28 as Constitution Day, a legal holiday in Ukraine. President Leonid Kuchma announced that the deputies of both the last and current convocations of Parliament will be awarded state medals for the work in the constitutional process.

"Now our main goal is to learn to live in accordance with this Constitution," said Leonid Kravchuk, independent Ukraine's first president and then a deputy in the Parliament.

"Parliament adopts Constitution in marathon session," by Marta Kolomayets, The Ukrainian Weekly, June 30, 1996, Vol. LXIV, No. 26.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, June 24, 2001, No. 25, Vol. LXIX

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