Statement by Natalya Nikonorova regarding the published draft amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine

The draft constitutional amendments submitted by the President of Ukraine to the Verkhovna Rada [the Parliament of Ukraine — ed.] flatly contradict the Package of Measures and the very essence of peace negotiations, the statement by the Head of the DPR Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Natalya Nikonorova, reads.

“Firstly, this draft was not agreed with representatives of the Republics, although in the communiqué following the Normandy Four meeting, the President of Ukraine reaffirmed his commitment to coordinate with us all the legal aspects of the special status, including the constitutional reform.

Secondly, in the draft amendments published today there is no mention of giving particular areas a special status, although the special status’s permanent reinforcement is precisely the point of the constitutional amendments spelled out in the Package of Measures.

Thirdly, the draft submitted by Zelensky is essentially an attempt to usurp power by introducing the concept of representatives of the President — so-called préfets authorized to suspend any regulatory legal acts adopted by local councils.

And fourthly, in the draft there is no concept of “district”, as enshrined in the Minsk agreements. This means nothing less than the constitutional reinforcement of the possibility to deprive the region of the special status at any time, even if there was a provision for it in this draft.

In addition, the Ukrainian authorities can again try to give legislative effect to the special status in transitional provisions the Poroshenko team once tried to impose, but Donbass will never agree to this, because, according to the Package of Measures, the special status must be permanent. In fact, this law is a somewhat tightened up version of the law Poroshenko tried to jam through.

We draw attention to the fact that the published draft amendment is intended to further enhance the centralization of power and the unity of the state. And the representatives of Ukraine have the ignorance to announce that this draft was submitted to the Ukrainian Parliament for consideration as part of the Minsk agreements’ implementation. Although, in fact, the Package of Measures prescribes the reverse process’s reinforcement in the Ukrainian Constitution — decentralization of power, which should be carried out taking into account the modalities of the special status of Donbass and must be coordinated with representatives of the Republics,” the statement says.