The Constitutional Court of Ukraine has no legal grounds for recognizing Decree of the President № 303 of May 21, 2019 “On Early Termination of Powers of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Appointment of Early Elections” unconstitutional. It was stated by Representative of the President in the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Fedir Venislavsky at the briefing on June 10.
"Tomorrow, our team will prove in the court that the presidential decree is constitutional and I am convinced that we will break down any arguments provided by our opponents. Our position will be clear: we will prove that the coalition of the parliamentary factions "European Ukraine" ceased to exist on March 29, 2016, when the faction of the political party of Oleh Lyashko left it. Mr. Lyashko announced the withdrawal from the European Ukraine coalition many times, but in the transcript of the plenary sessions, this fact was recorded on March 29, 2016," Fedir Venislavsky emphasized.
He also reminded that in February of that year, factions of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and Samopomich had withdrawn from the coalition, and the number of people's deputies in it became smaller than required by the Constitution of Ukraine. According to Fedir Venislavsky, the absence of a coalition in the parliament is obvious, and this fact does not require a special proof.
"It is indisputable that at the time of the issuance of the presidential decree of May 21, 2019, a new coalition of parliamentary factions was not formed in the parliament. That is, the President exercised his right on the basis of completely clear, understandable, predictable legal grounds and terminated the powers of the Verkhovna Rada ahead of schedule," he said.
In addition, Fedir Venislavsky noted that during the consideration of the submission in the Constitutional Court, evidence would be provided that the coalition had not existed not only de jure, but also de facto had not fulfilled its powers enshrined in the Constitution.
The Representative of the President in the Constitutional Court also reminded that the President had signed a decree on the termination of parliamentary powers after consulting with the leaders of parliamentary factions and groups, as well as the leadership of the Verkhovna Rada. During this meeting, parliamentarians recognized that there had been no coalition in the parliament for more than two years.
"The people's deputies of Ukraine, leaders of parliamentary factions have repeatedly declared in their public speeches in the parliament, under the transcript of plenary meetings and in the public space that there had been no coalition of parliamentary factions in the Verkhovna Rada since 2016. This was the main reason for the presidential decree on early termination of the Verkhovna Rada’s powers," Fedir Venislavsky stressed.
He once again noted that the President's decree had been issued on the basis of the Constitution, which allows him to terminate the powers of the Verkhovna Rada in advance in certain cases. Also, Fedir Venislavsky expressed the conviction that the document complied with all the principles of legal certainty.