Technicality Lets Ukraine President Off The Hook

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine’s pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko has exploited a parliamentary gaffe allowing him to veto a law that would have seen his powers reduced, his office said yesterday.

Viktor Yushchenko
Yushchenko sent the bill – which would have handed a raft of presidential powers to the government led by pro-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych – back to parliament on Thursday, a presidential statement said.

Despite a parliamentary vote ruling out his veto, the president benefited from a bizarre editorial gaffe: the new document sent back was missing a clause meaning he could treat it like a new piece of legislation.

“De facto, it was a new draft of the law that was sent” to the president, said the statement from his office.

Parliament realised the mistake, which it said was a “technical” error, and offered to send back the missing page.

The president’s office objected, saying that the bill was unconstitutional and demanding the extra clause “pass through the procedures of the parliamentary vote and only after could it be” signed by the president.

Justice Minister Olexander Lavrinovych described Yushchenko’s decision to veto the bill as a “bad joke”, accusing him of “abusing his powers”.

After a meeting with the president, Yanukovych reportedly called for a compromise.

“The law must without fault be harmonised with the constitution. We do not need superfluous powers,” he said, according to the Kommersant daily.

The Western-leaning Yushchenko faces tough resistance from Yanukovych’s pro-Russian majority in parliament.

Source: Gulf Times