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All sides should accept the ruling of Ukraine's Constitutional Court, says PACE

Other News Materials 19 April 2007 16:46 (UTC +04:00)

The urgent ruling of Ukraine's Constitutional Court in the current crisis, if delivered, should be accepted as binding by all sides, the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) said in a resolution adopted today at the end of an urgent debate attended by Ukraine's Parliamentary Speaker Oleksandr Moroz.

However, the Assembly also warned that pressure in any form on the judges of the Court was "intolerable", and should be investigated and criminally prosecuted.

In a resolution adopted by 107 votes to 5, the parliamentarians called on Ukraine's leaders and parliament to resolve the current crisis in a legitimate, strictly constitutional and peaceful manner, "whether that be by calling legitimate early elections, emanating from the ruling of the Constitutional Court, or by way of a negotiated compromise".

Early elections were a "normal practice" and could be accepted as "a key building block of the political compromise", the parliamentarians said, but only according to a legitimate procedure that allows fair campaigning and a free choice for voters.

They regretted that the government "has not complied with the formally valid decree (until proven otherwise) and has not allocated the required funding for these elections".

The Assembly criticised "personal rivalries and short-sighted fights for personal gain, linked to posts and positions" and said the reputations of all the political leaders in Ukraine was "tarnished".

It called for further constitutional reform to help resolve the current crisis and said the "imperative mandate" should be abandoned.

PACE President Renй van der Linden said he would visit Ukraine on 21 and 22 May, at the invitation of the Speaker Moroz, for high-level meetings.

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