Yurii Shulipa: Does modern Ukraine need a president?
Yurii Shulipa, the director of the international union Institute of National Politics, is convinced that for the time being, we must maintain the presidential post and the existing form of government. According to the lawyer, such changes are unacceptable in the conditions of war.
“In Ukraine, according to the Constitution, the President is the Supreme Commander. There are bodies subordinate to the President: Prosecutor General Office, SSU, military intelligence, armed forces, and most importantly – NSDC. NSDC provides the coordination and cooperation of the armed forces and law enforcement agencies to protect the national security and territorial integrity from Russian aggression. The presence of the Presidency provides opportunities for operational interaction and coordination of all power and militarized structures.
Ukraine has been in the state of forced defense against the external and internal Russian aggression for more than 5 years. In the conditions of Russian military, political, economic and humanitarian aggression, when a part of the sovereign territories is temporarily occupied by Russia, Russia is waging a treacherous bloody war against Ukraine, changing the form of government from parliamentary-presidential to purely parliamentary is unacceptable under any circumstances.”
Yurii Shulipa believes that despite any prerequisites, the issue of changing the form of government can be discussed only after Ukraine becomes a member of NATO and the EU and the acquisition, the formation of political culture.
“Ukraine can only afford classical parliamentarism under the umbrella of military security within NATO and the umbrella of economic security within the European Union. It is worth considering that in many ways, including politically, Ukraine ceased to be a colony of Moscow only from February 20, 2014, after the victory of Euromaidan.
The real Ukrainian parliamentarism is very young, by historical standards, it is still an infant. This is, in fact, the youngest parliamentarism in Europe. The infancy of the Ukrainian parliamentarism, the internal and external Russian aggression, the underdeveloped economy, a high degree of corruption and unscrupulousness of the people who influence the formation of the parliament, do not provide opportunities for raising the issue of the transition to a parliamentary form of government at the official level.
The formation of the Ukrainian parliamentarism should take years, it is necessary to create parties of the new formations on the basis of the ideology of democracy and the development of universally recognized values of developed civilized countries.”