Government calls on all political forces to accord on text of new redaction of Ukraine's Constitution by May 25

Arseniy Yatsenyuk emphasized today “it is of extreme importance for Ukraine not just to discuss the Constitution but for all the political forces of Ukraine to sign the new text of the new Ukrainian Constitution”.

According to him, it is necessary to ensure that “the Ukrainian people knew what powers would be assumed by the new elected Ukrainian president”, the elections of whom are slated for May 25: “These elections should take place, they will take place and Ukraine will have a lawfully elected Head of State”.

The Prime Minister emphasized that all the political forces should sign the text of the Constitution in order “to demonstrate to the entire world and, in the first place, to Ukraine and Ukrainian people unity of all the political forces, irrespective of their ideology and territory supported by these or those political forces, that Ukraine is a single unitary state, that respects the rights of territorial communities and the right of every Ukrainian to elect and control the central authority, elect local authorities and influence the decision making”.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk highlighted that the new redaction of the Principal Law should be send to the Venice Commission in order they could draw conclusions and assess compliance of this Constitution with the European standards and to the Constitution Court of Ukraine in order to assess compliance of the new redaction with the current Constitution of Ukraine.

“The Constitution is the basic document containing how the country will live. The Constitution is the passport of the country in which every citizen of Ukraine must be registered, everyone who knows and feels he influences the decisions of the authorities,” he underlined.

The new redaction of the Principal Law should correspond to the essential article of the current Constitution – Article 5 according to which the power belongs to the people of Ukraine, Arseniy Yatsenyuk emphasized.

“The Government calls on all the political forces. We practically lack time. By May 25 the country should see the new redaction of the Constitution. Every presidential candidate must say: “it is the right Constitution, I shall stick to it and bear the high title of the Head of State,” the Prime Minister accentuated.

He stressed by this time all the political forces should find consensus with the Constitutional majority, “to demonstrate unity and to vote for the Constitution in the Parliament”.

“Ukrainian Constitution should become the document of national unity which is desperately needed now for the country. The unity which is the only guarantee of preserving the Ukrainian state, which must shape Ukraine as a European country and preserve it as a geographically integral, independent, European country in which each Ukrainian has his rightful place,” Arseniy Yatsenyuk emphasized.