Reform Watch
OP-ED
Gerard Roland, Yuriy Gorodnichenko, Timofiy Mylovanov: The kind of constitutional change Ukraine needs
A man (R) examines what are reportedly craters left by a grenade next to a memorial in front of the Ukrainian parliament in Kiev on September 1, 2015, near the site where a police officer died during clashes in front of the parliament on August 31. Ukraine was on September 1 reeling after fierce clashes in Kiev killed two policemen and wounded 140 people outside parliament as tensions flared over controversial legislation giving more autonomy to Moscow-backed rebels. AFP PHOTO / SERGEI SUPINSKY
The violence in front of the Verkhovna Rada on Aug. 31 during the first passage of the vote on the Constitutional change, however unjustified and reprehensible, is a sign of great distrust among the population towards the current process of constitutional change initiated by President Petro Poroshenko. People fear that changes are brought to the fundamental law of the country with excessive haste and lack of sufficient consultation. This is clearly not how a legitimate constitutional process for Ukraine must be organized.
