A day before the Ukrainian parliament convenes for its first session after the Oct. 25 local elections, President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed lawmakers of his party in an audio message, calling them to back his draft bill that seeks to fire all judges of the Constitutional Court.
In an audio message that was leaked on Nov. 2 through LB.ua news website, Zelensky urged his party, Servant of the People, which holds the majority seats in the parliament, to show unity and support his bill.
Zelensky came up with the proposition to dismiss the Constitutional Court after it ruled against Ukraine’s anti-corruption system last week, undoing several years of progress and jeopardizing backing by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
This week, the Constitutional Court is set to review some of the most contentious bills such as those on farmland sales, the Ukrainian language law, and the Deposit Guarantee Fund. Their reversal might further harm Ukraine’s reform record and undermine international support.
The president’s bill, which was registered on Oct. 29 and marked as top priority, has to get a green light from the parliamentary committee on legal policy before being put out for a vote. The date of the committee’s meeting is unknown. Head of the committee Andriy Kostin did not respond to calls.
An ideal solution to the crisis would be if all of the court’s 15 judges resigned, Zelensky said during an appearance on a political talk show on ICTV channel on the night of Nov. 2.
However, that’s not likely to happen. So Zelensky wants his lawmakers to at least pass his bill in the first hearing to provide leverage over the court’s judges.
“This bill will hang above them as the Damocles sword (an impending disaster),” said Zelensky. “And they will not rule on the language law, on farmland sales, or (annul) the High Anti-Corruption Court.”
Zelensky notably didn’t mention the court’s intention to rule on the Deposit Guarantee Fund on Nov. 3, which can undermine Ukraine’s whole banking system.
Zelensky also openly accused two political forces of orchestrating the Constitutional Court’s actions: a pro-Russian party Opposition Platform, which holds 44 seats in parliament, and For Future (Za Maibutne), a party associated with oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, which has 24 seats.
At the same time, when pushed to name the exact people behind the attack on anti-corruption institutions, Zelensky said he can’t do it because any such claims have to be based on “real evidence,” which law enforcement is working to collect.
Although Zelensky commands a 246-member faction in parliament, he will find it tricky to round up the necessary 226 votes to pass the bill on Nov. 2. Dozens of lawmakers in the president’s faction have in the past voted against the party line when the vote touched upon interests of oligarchs.
Other factions don’t hurry to help out Zelensky.
Voice, a 19-seat liberal party, said that Zelensky’s bill is too risky, and will suggest an alternative of their own. Yaroslav Zheleznyak, lawmaker with the 19-seat Voice party, wrote on his Telegram channel that “there was no clarity” on whether the president’s bill will be put up for voting on Nov. 3. As of 11 p.m. of Nov. 2, the bill still wasn’t on the parliament’s agenda.
The parliament has to seek ways out of the crisis, speaker Dmytro Razumkov said at Nov. 2 meeting with leaders of all factions.
Speaker Razumkov proposed a new bill for a vote this week that would restore the electronic asset declaration system, which was effectively wiped out by the Constitutional Court on Oct. 27.
The court repealed the criminal liability for false declarations by public officials and stripped the National Agency for Preventing Corruption of its authority to collect electronic declarations, verify them, and keep a registry.
According to the leaked copy of an explanatory note, a “new” bill will be identical to the one repealed by the Constitutional Court.
Deputy Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk proposed to appoint three judges of the Constitutional Court, which currently has 15 out of 18 judges.
Moreover, lawmakers of the Servant of the People and Voice factions reportedly proposed to increase the quorum for the Constitutional Court from 12 to 17 judges. Given that the court has three vacant spots, this would effectively block the work of the court.
In his Nov. 2 audio address, President Zelensky, whose Servant of the People party holds 246 seats, said that “the actions of the Constitutional Court put Ukraine on the brink of a disaster” and could lead to bloodshed. He hinted that the violence was the goal of unnamed forces behind the Constitutional Court and alleged it was being paid for.
Zelensky also acknowledged that the solution he is offering is neither perfect nor particularly legal.
“Fates of millions of people are at stake. That’s why we are not talking about making a choice in the legal framework, but about making a choice that is good for the people. These times demand that we are brave,” the president said. “History doesn’t judge the winners.”
