KIEV, November 14 (Sputnik) – Decentralization of state power should begin in Ukraine before the country's new Constitution is accepted, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk stated Friday at a press conference.
"We don't believe postponing the heightened role of local management until the acceptance of the new Constitution to be reasonable," Yatsenyuk said.
"I believe that increasing the role of territorial communities and the change in the quality of such an institution like the heads of regional state administrations is possible by adopting the new edition of Ukraine's law on local state administrations and the new law on local self-administration. The powers of the regional administrations must move towards territorial communities," he added.
According to the prime minister, this should happen in 2015.
The issue of decentralization in Ukraine has gained specific attention due to the ongoing conflict between independence supporters of southeastern Ukraine and Kiev forces. The law on self-administration in parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions was passed by the Ukrainian parliament on September 16, following the September 5 ceasefire agreement between the two sides.
On November 2, the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics held elections for the heads of local governments and representatives of legislative bodies.
Following the vote, Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council backed the Ukrainian leader's initiative to abolish a law granting a special status to the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
