KIEV: Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich yesterday signed a law enabling constitutional change via referendums instead of via parliament, in a move the opposition criticised as aimed at ensuring his own re-election in 2015.
Yanukovich’s Regions party, which approved the new law this month, looks set to secure a slim majority in the 450-seat parliament in the wake of elections on October 28, a handful of results of which have yet to be finalised.
The party’s support fell compared with 2007, however, putting Yanukovich’s chances of re-election in 2015 in doubt.
To boost those chances, opposition leaders say Yanukovich may use the new law to amend the constitution - via a referendum and not via parliament - to scrap presidential elections and let parliament pick the head of state via a simple majority vote.
Some analysts said he may even use the law to push through policies that his party, backed by influential local industrialists, would not support. AFP
