People's Assembly approves the new constitution, amid criticism

[President Costava]

ARSTOTZKA - Despite criticism by the Arstotzka Human Rights Commission and the Democratic Union of Arstotzka led by MP Petro Symonenko, and even the lawyers about the lack of sufficient checks and balances between the executive and legislative powers, Arstotzka’s People's Assembly approved a new Constitution today.

 

One of the most disputed provisions curbs the powers of the constitutional court on budget and tax matters and allows the President of the Republic to dissolve Parliament if a budget is not approved.

 

The right-wing National Party of Arstotzka, which swept into power last months with a two-thirds majority, was the only party that voted for the Constitution in the 200-to-5 vote. The decision by the main opposition Democratic Union of Arstotzka party to boycott the vote reflected the controversy not just over the contents of the Constitution, but also the way it was drafted and the political polarization that has continued ever since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990 and its former soviet republic transitioned towards democracy.

 

Prime Minister Kuchma, leader of the National Party of Arstotzka, told Parliament before the vote that the Constitution represented something fundamental: a break with Arstotzka’s communist past. The Constitution served to repay “those Arstotzkans who changed the regime and the political players who took part in shaping political life,” he said. “We are trying to settle that debt.” As soon as he was elected last month, Prime Minister Leonid Kuchma, who was once a leading dissident, said he would move quickly to write and pass a new Constitution that he claimed would complete Arstotzka’s transition to a full-fledged democracy.

 

The opposition party, however, withdrew from a commission that was established to draft a written Constitution, the first in Arstotzka’s turbulent history since 1922. “They withdrew for political reasons,” Prime Minister Kuchma said in an interview.  “We wanted them to participate. We kept asking them to come back. It was a big mistake that they did not rejoin the commission.” The opposition claimed it would not have been listened to even had it remained in the commission.

 

The new constitution will give Arstotzka a legal framework in which nationalist and religious factors are decisive. The constitution reeks of Christian-Orthodox fundamentalist and nationalist ideology, which the National Party calls the “national creed”. 

 

God, Christianity, the Republic and pride in the thousand-year history of Arstotzka are enshrined in the new constitution as legally binding standards. The text refers back to the country’s “historic” heritage. In a speech to the nation, Prime Minister Kuchma said the new constitution ended the phase in which “Arstotzkans were systematically suppressed”.

 

The right to utilise a referendum to oppose political decisions has been considerably restricted. Generally, a referendum can no longer be instigated by popular demand, but only through a majority in parliament. Referendums calling for constitutional changes or to amend election law are completely excluded.The protests against the constitution have been limited. There were several demonstrations against the government in Grestin, but these were mainly dominated by the Democratic Union of Arstotzka. The opposition parties fear being excluded from power permanently. 

 

Regardless, the new constitution claims to represent all Arstotzkans.