Meeting takes place between representatives of Civic Assembly of Ukraine (CAU) and Secretary of the NSDC of Ukraine Raisa Bohatyriova

On November 12, 2008, a meeting was held with representatives of the Civic Assembly of Ukraine (CAU) at the invitation of Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Raisa Bohatyriova.
 
During the meeting they discussed the sociopolitical crisis as being a threat to Ukraine’s national security, decentralization of power, changes to election legislation, the need to create a Constitutional Assembly, transparency of political financing, creation of a voter register, mechanisms for government consultations with the public, and strategic directions for the country’s development.

The representatives of the Civic Assembly of Ukraine stressed that the current election law de facto deprives the absolute majority of Ukrainians of their active suffrage and significantly restricts the applied realization of passive suffrage. As a result, the government becomes estranged from the people, the state mechanism is disorganized and collapses, political, and more precisely, clannish expediency and rule of the strong takes the place of the rule of law, and there is systematic violation of human rights and civic freedoms. Back in July 2007, the CAU cautioned that snap elections held without changes to the Constitution and the establishment of clear rules and limits to political activities by the public and politicians will not help solve a crisis. Therefore, the CAU insists on the need to make immediate changes to the election law that will introduce “open” regional candidate lists with preferences to the Verkhovna Rada and a majoritarian system for local government bodies, and implement fundamental constitutional reform through the constituent rule of the public via the approval of a new Ukrainian Constitution by a special constituent body – the Constitutional Assembly.

The CAU representatives endorsed the convocation of an Extraordinary Civic Assembly of Ukraine in December 2008, which will review reports about the actual work done by political forces in fulfilling their election promises, as well as ways of overcoming the deep sociopolitical crisis in Ukraine. They invited Raisa Bohatyriova to participate.   

In summing up the discussion, NSDC Secretary Raisa Bohatyriova welcomed the timely meeting of the Extraordinary Civic Assembly of Ukraine, which is an active mechanism for the development and public discussion of civil society’s position with regard to constitutional and electoral processes, declaration of demands to current politicians and political forces given external and domestic dangers.  

Raisa Bohatyriova stressed that the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine by definition is a platform for developing consolidated decisions and is ready to not only listen to the voice of the people but to work closely with civil society institutions to find common ways of overcoming the crisis.

The participants of the meeting underscored the importance of holding similar meetings in the future as an opportunity for open dialogue between government and the public to develop joint proposals.

Participants from the CAU included: Olesya Arkhypska, International Renaissance Foundation (Kyiv); Oleksandr Bukalov, Donetsk Memorial (Donetsk); Viktor Harbar, Vsesvit – Maidan Alliance (Kharkiv); Hanna Holubovska, Mama-86 (Kyiv), Volodymyr Horbach, Civic Constitutional Committee (Kyiv), Ihor Zubko, Oberih Charitable Foundation (Zaporizhzhia); Dmytro Kalitventsev, Luhansk Region Civic Forum (Luhansk); Ihor Kohut, Ukrainian School for Political Studies, Laboratory for Legislative Initiatives (Kyiv), Mykola Korobko, Kryvyy Rih City Branch of Taras Shevchenko Prosvita (Kryvyy Rih); Oleksandr Novosad, Association of Young Political Scientists and Politicians (Lutsk); Anatoliy Pinchuk, Public Forum of Ukraine (Kyiv); Yuriy Reznikov, Public Council at the Khmelnytsky Oblast State Administration (Khmelnytsky); Valeriy Ryepin, Kharkiv Oblast Organization of Entrepreneurs Trade Union (Kharkiv); Volodymyr Khanas, Adaptational Men’s Center (Ternopil); and Andriy Kohut, CAU Secretary (Kyiv).   

* * *

The Civic Assembly of Ukraine is an initiative launched in 2007 with the aim of creating national and regional platforms for developing and publicly discussing civil society’s proposals on strategic problems for Ukrainian society. Over 400 representatives of leading civil society organizations in Ukraine have taken part in the work of the CAU during 2007-2008.

The International Renaissance Foundation provides organizational and financial support to the Civic Assembly of Ukraine.

Contacts: Andriy Kohut

Secretary, Civic Assembly of Ukraine Organizational Committee

Tel: +38 (063) 617-97-05

E-mail: kohut@irf.kiev.ua

			Khrystyna Basiliya, Public Relations Manager tel: +380 (44) 461 97 09 | fax: +380 (44) 486 76 29 email: basiliya@irf.kiev.ua office: Kyiv, Artema Street, 46, Head Office