Arseniy Yatsenyuk: There won't be decentralization without new Constitution

The Government of Ukraine is doing everything necessary to ensure decentralization of power. “We have endorsed dozens of decisions enabling local communities to feel larger freedom,” the Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk emphasized during the Second National Unity Roundtable in Kharkiv, on Saturday, May 17.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk reminded the authority from the State Architecture and Building Inspection would be handed over to the regions, during the Government’s session on May 16 a decision had been approved to hand over to the local communities the authorities to provide administrative services and a draft bill on the state regional policy had been endorsed: “But principal thing in the issue of decentralization is amending the Constitution. There won’t be decentralization without the new Constitution, there will be illusion. That’s precisely why it is crucial to gather 300 votes in the Parliament to carry out real constitutional reform,” the Prime Minister stressed.

According to him, the constitutional reform should be carried out “in the most transparent format to make people understand what will be written in Ukrainian Constitution and what directly will change”.

“We support the decision taken recently by the temporary special commission of the Parliament concerning the first model of possible changes to the Constitution. After that it should be sent to the Venice Commission to receive expert conclusions, then discussed again through an inclusive national dialog, and by the constitutional majority this document should be approved,” the Head of Government underlined.

During the discussion Arseniy Yatsenyuk emphasized Ukraine is subjected to the attempts “to partition and hold feudalization instead of federalization”: “We had one Yanukovych, now someone wants 27 “Yanukovyches” to rule the regions”.

“My position as a citizen is I will stand up against that to the bitter end. Ukraine will never be divided. Ukraine should be a single unitary state with broad authorities given to the regions, but not small enclaves in which each businessman would buy local council, local executive committee for himself and small Abkhazias, Ossetias, Transnistrias on the territory of Ukraine,” Arseniy Yatsenyuk stressed.