Saturday, October 09, 2010

Pathetic parliament

Last Friday, the Ukrainian Constitutional Court decided to nullify the 2004 constitutional amendments which had been voted in at that time by over 400 Verkhovna Rada deputies. The CC judges also took it upon themselves to resurrect the 1996 version of the Constitution; whether they had the authority to do this is highly 'iffy', to say the least.

This Thursday, VR deputies meekly voted through a motion to reduce their own powers and to increase the powers of the HWMBO president.

The pathetic state of the current Ukrainian parliament, and the cynicism of its deputies, was well illustrated by the evening session when the decision was made.

It was attended by less than 100 deputies. Deputy parliamentary speaker Adam Martynyuk bitterly opened the session, no doubt through gritted teeth, declaring: "300 voting cards had been registered - the evening session can begin.." So less then a quarter of them had even bothered to turn up to carry out this self-castration.

"This is the way the world ends,
Not with a bang but a whimper". The Hollow Men - T. S. Eliot

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