Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada extends law on special order of local self-government in Donbas until end of 2021
KYIV/LUHANSK. Dec 15 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada has extended the validity of the law "On Special Order of Local Self-Government in Certain Areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk Regions" until the end of 2021.
The relevant bill was supported in principle and as a whole by 304 deputies at a meeting on Tuesday.
The bill was backed up by the factions of Servant of the People (216 votes), the Opposition Platform - For Life (26 votes), European Solidarity (22 votes), For the Future (14 votes), and Trust (19 votes). The factions of Batkivshchyna and Holos opposed the bill (12 and 14 votes, respectively).
The bill extends for one year the provisional special order of local self-government in certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The Verkhovna Rada adopted the relevant law in September 2014. The document envisages that special order of local self-government in certain areas of Donbas will take effect only "after the fulfilment of all conditions set by the law's Article 10, including the pullout of all illegal armed units, their military hardware, as well as fighters and mercenaries from the territory of Ukraine."
Article 10 of the Law (interim provisions) says that special order of local self-government shall be enforced exclusively by local self-government bodies established as a result of early elections. The article also sets mandatory conditions for holding elections in these areas, including the pullout of illegal armed units and their military hardware from Ukraine, the guarantee of the free expression of will, election observation, including by representatives of international organizations, prevention of illegal interference in the electoral process, compliance with the principle of political plurality, and freedom of election campaigning.
The extension of the law "On Special Order of Local Self-Government in Certain Areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk Regions" by Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada without implementing the Steinmeier formula is an act of manipulation by Kyiv, the Foreign Ministry of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) said.
"The jointly endorsed results of the Paris 2019 summit tasked Ukraine with coordinating integration of the Steinmeier formula into the law with Donbas representatives. Instead, there is yet another fake," a ministry representative told the press in comments on the Verkhovna Rada's decision to extend the law.
"Ukraine keeps on manipulating the obligations signed by its designated representative to the Minsk negotiations," he said.
"The prevention of Ukrainian manipulations from happening in the future is the exact reason why the roadmap of a peaceful settlement of the Donbas conflict on the basis of the Minsk Agreements, which has been proposed by us, is necessary," the ministry representative said.
The Steinmeier formula was named after incumbent German President, former Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. It envisages the provisional implementation of the law on special order of local self-government of certain areas of Donbas before the elections, and says that the law will acquire final legal force after the elections and the release of the OSCE/ODIHR report affirming that the elections were held in compliance with democratic principles.
