The Republican leader Pavlo Viknyanskyy was talking about this during a live broadcast on TV Chanel «112 Ukraine» on May 30, 2014. The leaders of channel Vasyl Golovanov and Violetta Trykova made him a company in the studio.
Vasyl Golovanov: With pleasure to introduce a guest in the studio — the head of the All-Ukrainian non-governmental youth organizationStudrespublika Pavlo Viknyanskyy. Pavlo, hello.
Pavlo Viknyanskyy: As you know, nowadays we are experiencing an acute crisis in Ukraine and, unfortunately, most of the news that we see in the air are negative. «How to solve this situation?» — Many people ask that question.
Fortunately, there is no other option as to return the real sovereignty of the Ukrainian people. For that fought and are still fighting the people who were on Maidans of Ukraine, also many rebels on the Ukrainian east are for the changing the rules of the game.
For a reconciliation of Ukrainian citizens, to returntothe situation to theconstitutional course required that version of the Constitution, which would meet the aspirations of the majority of Ukrainian citizens. The Verkhovna Rada has no right to usurp amending the Constitution. This right must be returned to the people.
How to do it — by holding a nationwide referendum, which will adopt the new text of the Constitution, and in this new edition of the Constitution will be removed those problems which divide different regions of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. And also will be made serious steps for democratization, struggle — the real struggle – against the oligarchs and corruption, and to transmit the real powers to the local government. Violetta Trykova: So it turns out that everything what people talk about is that people should have an impact on power, not the power should act in the interests of the oligarchic, let’s say, elite. Yes, but it’s understandable…
Vasyl Golovanov: Who should be the author of the National Constitution first of all?
Pavlo Viknyanskyy: People must be the author. The procedure involves holding a popular referendum of the general meeting, which shall be attended by representatives from all regions of Ukraine. And these representatives approve the draft text of the Constitution.
That draft text of the Constitution, which we were talking about, which we call the People’sConstitution — is a cool text, which included the best practices for constitutionalism from around the world, as well as those developments that the Constitutional Assembly was working on for several years, and it was finalized by the leading Ukrainian lawyers and representatives of the Academy of Sciences.
Violetta Trykova: By leading Ukrainian lawyers, so quite specific group of people. Because when we say: «The people», or when we say, «All» — we mean «nobody». Because this is a general… there are specific specialists, lawyers, who developed… Well, actually I would like to understand the main points that will be determined.
Vasyl Golovanov: Yes, to the moments. And before that, I will ask a short question. We just recently had elections, May 25. And I was talking to people, found that… Well, of course, for whom to vote for the President, for the mayor decided earlier, for the party — even back and forth… But with majority — there was a disaster because many people reviewed the lists directly in the booth, roughly speaking. And you talk about the Constitution! But this is a multi-work, which you need to understand. This is a large volume. And I am more than confident that introducing the referendum, we run the risk that people who go to vote «for» or «against», just do not read to the end of the document.
Pavlo Viknyanskyy: First of all, the real offense — to treat our people as if they are dumber than those who supervise them: everything is opposite, actually.
Following thesis — we cannot, in any case, to talk about real democracy, if we do not work on it. Because the real struggle for civil rights is legal education, and political education, and effort. And the ordinary citizen is obliged to exert appropriate efforts. That is what we are insisting on and that is why we know that the draft National Constitution should be adopted only by a nationwide referendum procedure in all regions of Ukraine.
And this document will remove those problems which, unfortunately, have now appeared in the Ukrainian society. First of all, it is the removal of the problem of illegitimate, illegal referendums in the Crimea and Donbas. It finally permits speculative problems of Russian language: state status should be only in the Ukrainian language, but Russian language gets official status. This is the elimination of regional state administrations, instead of them — local authorities, regional executive committees, etc that perform [their] functions and provide a link with the government. All these rights are secured by the Constitution.
Next, that is important: at last we stop deceiving people that we have rules of the Constitution — it is rules of direct action. If the Constitution was adopted by referendum, the entire Ukrainian people will be its author, which means that every representative of the people, not in words but in fact will require real rights, as well as exercise their civil and political rights enshrined in the Constitution by means of rules. It finally should be a living document. Unfortunately, the current version of the Ukrainian Constitution — they’re all dead. How many times have we not… not we, but criminal elite distort the text of the Constitution in the best side for them, and all the people grew poorer and more people suffer.
Vasyl Golovanov: Here’s a question from our viewers, on 112 TV, Victor asks, «Where can I get acquainted with the text?»
Pavlo Viknyanskyy: On the Internet, the website of Studrespublika — www.studrespublika.com, it was already placed, as on the website Suprun.ua, as well as on other sites of those who are now engaged in organizational issues related to the preparation of the general meeting to initiate nationwide referendum.
Violetta Trykova: And can we join these initiatives or, in general, a group is already organized and it makes no sense?
Pavlo Viknyanskyy: Absolutely possible, and moreover, we recently conducted the press conference, and called on all who are interested to join, participate, make suggestions, there is no the final version of the document that will be submitted at national referendum yet. And the proposals received and will be processed, voted at the meeting.
Violetta Trykova: Thank you.
Vasyl Golovanov: Pavlo, thank you so much for coming to us today. Pavlo Viknyanskyy with an alternative embodiment, which is not approved yet, of the new National Constitution. You can meet it on the site of Studrespublika. We continue our broadcast. Pavlo, have a good day.
Pavlo Viknyanskyy: Thank you! See you there!
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