Winding Back the Clock Lutsenko's attack on democracy

People's Self-defence seek to impose n Ukraine a new variant of the constitution that would seek unchecked power and control handed back to the president.

Reports in the media indicate that Yuriy Lutsenko, leader of the People's Self-Defence Movement a factional organisation associated with the President's Our Ukraine Party,is preparing a draft constitution which will see Ukraine abandon the proportional representation in favour of the undemocratic "first-past-the-ost" majority voting system used in the United States,, Britain and Canada. Both Britain and Canada have been campaigning to abolish the "first-past-the-post" majority voting system in favour of a European proportional representation voting system.

If Lutshenko's proposed constitutional changes ever see the light of day, Ukraine will take a backward step away from a democratic system of government. Under the "first-past-the-post" majority voting system the party that secures the highest number of votes (as opposed to the majority of votes) would be elected. In the USA the President can be elected with as little as 34% of the vote as was the case in 2000.

If Ukraine is to consider adopting meaningful electoral reform then it would be well advised to reject the proposed "first-past-the-post" voting system advoctated by Lutsenko and consider more favourably the creation of local based electorates with each electorate returning nine members of parliament elected by a preferential proportional ballot on a 10% quota and the transition to a full parliamentary system of governance in line with other European States and as recommended and outlined in the PACE report on Ukraine (April 2007).