The first President of Ukraine, Leonid Kravchuk offers MPs to set up a commission for reforming the Constitution and offers his services as a guarantor of discussions between the opposition and the authorities. He said this on Wednesday from the parliament’s rostrum.
“The whole world and Ukraine recognize that the country is on the brink of civil war. There is a diarchy in the country. The protests have escalated into a rebellion,” said Kravchuk.
“This is simply a revolution. It’s about overthrowing the government. This is not something extraordinary. You simply need to call a spade a spade”.The former president urged MPs to treat the situation responsibly to stop the collapse of the government.
“We need to pull apart the warring parties, telling people that there is a plan for Ukraine’s way out of the political crisis that is agreed with the President and the Verkhovna Rada. We need to outline this plan. People are smart. They will agree to this and meet us half-way,” said Kravchuk.
He called for a consolidated vote on the “amnesty” bills to pass this law, to release those in custody and clear the administrative buildings.
Kravchuk supports the process of constitutional reform.
The Ex-President suggested that the MPs establish a commission that will receive the developments of the Constitutional Assembly and will decide which option is to be accepted – a parliamentary-presidential or presidential- parliamentary one.
Kravchuk also urged MPs to trust each other:
“If the parliamentary majority will place the opposition on their knees, will not listen, will not accept anything – it will not work. But if the opposition will deliver ultimatums, it will not work either,” he said.
The former President urged MPs to realize that Ukraine is more important than any ambitions.
Due to the deep distrust between the opposition and President, he offered to become a guarantor of these negotiations together with Ex-President Leonid Kuchma and to inform the people of their results.
“Only you, together with the President, can resolve the dramatic issues in Ukraine,” stated Kravchuk.
Meanwhile, consultations on the coordination of the amnesty law for protesters continue in the Verkhovna Rada.
Previously, Kravchuk initiated and hosted roundtables on the ways to resolve the political crisis in the country. Invitation to join them were sent by the Presidential Administration.
Kravchuk also heads the Constitutional Assembly created by Yanukovych and which the opposition had refused to join that worked on the draft project for reforming the Constitution. People that worked on the 1996 Constitution of Ukraine were not invited to work on this project. Former president Kuchma said that he considers the activities of the Constitutional Assembly to be pointless.
Kravchuk has expressed the opinion that almost all options to resolving the conflict can be considered except for early presidential elections.
Kravchuk’s online article on Forbes also mentioned gratitude to “Berkut” for their patience. Later, the former president softened his words.
Original text from Ukrainska Pravda
Translated by Alya Shandra
