The Ukrainian Constitutional Court has ruled that the 2004 constitutional reform transferring a significant amount of power from the president to parliament was adopted in breach of the constitution.
Thursday's ruling, made public on Friday, is a boost for President Viktor Yanukovych, who has criticized the division of power between parliament and the president. His representative to the court said all the powers had been immediately returned to the president.
"The Ukrainian court has restored the norms of the 1996 Constitution in full," Yelena Lukash told journalists at the Constitutional Court. "This means that now all public and legal relations in the country are regulated by that constitution, which has been recognized as the best European constitution by all international institutions."
A total of 252 Ukrainian lawmakers signed a petition to the court demanding the cancellation of the constitutional amendments, which came into effect in summer 2006, making the country a parliamentary-presidential republic.
The court said on Friday the bill passed on December 8, 2004, "does not correspond to the Ukrainian Constitution" because of "violations of constitutional procedures of its consideration and adoption."
Opposition politician and ex-premier Yulia Tymoshenko called on Friday for early presidential and parliamentary elections since all of the country's power structures were elected under the old constitution.
"There can only be one conclusion: the president, parliament and government should all be re-elected at early presidential and parliamentary elections," she said.
Tymoshenko called on Ukrainian democratic forces to unite to hold talks on new elections.
The Ukrainian justice minister, Oleksandr Lavrynovych, said there were no grounds to hold early presidential or parliamentary elections.
The constitutional amendments were approved under President Leonid Kuchma. His successor, Viktor Yushchenko, sought to abolish the reforms, which helped to create the conditions for the political crises of his presidency.
Yanukovych, who was elected in February, said in his Constitution Day address to the nation on July 6 that the reform caused a "misbalance" and a "serious crisis of power," and proposed reviewing the constitution.
Some analysts argue that abolishing the reform will put too much power in the hands of the Ukrainian president.
Without the court ruling, Yanukovych's supporters would likely find it impossible to restore the president's earlier powers, as 300 votes in Ukraine's 450-strong Supreme Rada are required to change the constitution. Yanukovych's coalition in parliament is 35 votes short of that level of support.
KIEV, October 1 (RIA Novosti)
