Donbas special status removed from constitution -----Poroshenko
(Ukraine) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Monday that any
provisions which could give eastern regions a special status had been removed
from the country’s constitution.
"Article 92 envisioning a theoretical possibility of
special status for certain cities has been removed to eliminate even the
slightest legal hitch for a parade of sovereignties," Poroshenko said
after Ukraine’s parliament on Monday voted in favour of constitutional changes, reports Tass.
The president noted that the special order of
self-government in parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions was governed by a
separate law, "which has already been twice approved by parliament".
Most provisions of the law has been suspended and will come
into force after local elections are held in the area in accordance with
Ukrainian legislation and standards of the Organisation for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, OSCE, as well as after Kiev reinstates control of the
border with Russia, Poroshenko added.
On Monday, Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada passed the first reading
of amendments to the country’s constitution. The decentralization draft law
proposed by President Pyotr Poroshenko was supported by 265 deputies, above a
required minimum of 226 votes. A total of 87 deputies voted against the
changes.
The constitutional amendments should be passed at two
Verkhovna Rada sessions - first by a simple majority of votes (226 votes), and
then - by the constitutional one (at least 300 votes).
The voting on the bill has brought to an end the second
session of the Verkhovna Rada. Then the document will be submitted to the next
parliament session, due to begin on September 1, for passing it on the whole.
Constitutional reform is an important part of the February
12 comprehensive action plan to fulfil the Minsk accords worked out by leaders
of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France in the search for peace in the embattled
eastern Donbass region.
A key element of reform is decentralization of government
with respect to the peculiarities of certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk
regions agreed with their representatives, as well as adopting permanent
legislation on the special status of certain Donbass areas.
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