The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky believes that the Commission on Legal Reform, among other things, should focus on continuing constitutional reform in terms of decentralization, the Press service of the Head of state reports.
The completion of decentralization in Ukraine requires amendments to the constitution of the country, as individual elements of local self-government are regulated by the Basic Law. Changes in decentralization include a three-tier system of local government. It is assumed that the system of administrative-territorial structure will consist of regions, districts and communities. It is the communities that are invited to transfer the greatest powers and financial resources. The representative of the state (prefect) in the field will be a person who is appointed and dismissed by the president on the proposal of the government. Within the framework of this reform, it is supposed to provide special districts to certain regions of Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
“In particular, this is the constitutional foundation for decentralization. Its absence complicates the reform of local self-government. There is an uncertain status and powers of territorial communities, there is no way to reform power at the district and oblast levels. The guidelines for these issues should be the European Charter of Local Self-Government and the best world experience”, – Zelensky said during a commission meeting on Wednesday.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in 2015 approved on the first reading of constitutional amendments regarding the decentralization of power, which provides for the transfer of financial powers from the center to the regions. However, due to inconsistency of the norm on the special status of Donbass, the final adoption of amendments to the constitution is postponed indefinitely. After initiating the procedure for amending the constitution, deputies must forward the bill to the Constitutional Court, which provides an opinion on the constitutionality of such amendments. After that, in the case of a positive conclusion of the Constitutional Court, the Rada may adopt the bill in the first reading, for this you need at least 226 votes. At the next session, Parliament may adopt the law as a whole with at least 300 votes.