The Constitutional Court on Friday upheld Ukraine’s new election law and kept in place the 4 percent barrier for parties running nationwide slates of candidates in the March 29 vote for Parliament.
The decision ended uncertainty surrounding the election law’s legitimacy and boosted the chances of the Communists, who lead in the polls and can expect to benefit most from the reapportionment of votes wasted on parties that fall short of the threshold.
The court, ruling on a challenge by deputies loyal to President Leonid Kuchma, invalidated a total of 21 provisions of the election law. But most notable changes, including the prohibition on candidates running simultaneously on nationwide slates and in local constituencies, won’t take effect until the next election due in 2002.
‘The [next] Parliament will be legitimate, and so will all its deputies,’ said Constitutional Court Chairman Ivan Tymchenko.
Under an election law approved by Parliament in September after years of debate, half of the 450 seats in the Rada will be filled from national party lists, and half by winners of constituency races.
Kuchma’s allies and independent deputies had opposed this mixed system for fear that it would increase the influence of national parties at the expense of local officials who form the core of the president’s support base. They argued before the Constitutional Court that the 4 percent barrier parties must surmount to win seats in Parliament is unconstitutional because it violates the voting rights of the supporters of small parties.
The justices rejected that argument. ‘We considered it very thoroughly, and the Court ruled that it is a political issue, and it’s up to the Verkhovna Rada to decide what the barrier should be,’ said Pavlo Yevhrafov, the lead justice in the case.
Opponents and supporters of the election law pronounced themselves equally satisfied with the ruling. ‘This resolution will not influence the election campaign, and as a result of this election Parliament will have fewer so-called independents,’ said Oleksandr Lavrynovych, deputy chairman of the parliamentary Legal Affairs and Judiciary Committee and one of the law’s defenders before the court. In its ruling the Constitutional Court also restored the voting rights of convicts, stripped Rada candidates of the immunity from prosecution enjoyed by members of Parliament and voided election law provisions barring court challenges of decisions made by election authorities. The court also declared unconstitutional the requirement that civil servants running for the Rada leave their jobs for the duration of the campaign and ruled that campaign aides can secure paid leave from other jobs only with the permission of their employer.
