The law on local referendums doesn’t carry risks of separatism – “Opora” chairperson”

Potentially, the law on local referendums can be manipulated, but it doesn't happen only in an ideal world. The draft law itself doesn't embed any manipulative norms.

The head of the "Opora" Civil Network, Olha Aivazovska, stated this in a comment for Rubryka.

As Rubryka reported, First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk hopes the Rada can pass a law on local referendums in the fall.

According to Olha Aivazovska, only "difficult" draft laws requiring the consideration of thousands of amendments before voting can prevent the adoption of the law within the term set by the First Vice-Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada.

She also stressed that the OPU's attention to the law would help: "Even the president promised that the residents of the communities would have this tool of influence."

"The law on local referendums considers both international practice and the law on the all-Ukrainian referendum. That is, it wasn't drafted from scratch. And if the Verkhovna Rada isn't blocked by comprehensive draft laws with thousands of amendments to be considered in a few plenary days, its adoption in the fall is realistic," Aivazovska notes.

At the same time, she noted that the adoption of this law wouldn't be formal, and territorial communities would really have the opportunity to resolve their issues through local referendums.

Thus, emphasizing that the organization of "any referendum faces a large number of procedures," Aivazovska insists: there are no obstacles that couldn't be overcome by the initiative group, "which decided to use this tool to consider a certain issue."

In addition, she emphasizes that, unlike the all-Ukrainian one, local referendums are subject to fewer demands: "For example, it's not necessary to collect 3 million signatures in at least two-thirds of regions, provided that there are at least 100,000 signatories in each."

"We're talking about a tool that can be implemented in every community, regardless of its size. And although the procedure is similar to an all-Ukrainian referendum, the qualification requirements for local referendums aren't so strict," Aivazovska explains.

Assessing the risks that this draft law may carry, she draws attention to Ukrainian realities, namely, "not always a fair fight between different political actors."

"Potentially, this law can be manipulated, but it doesn't happen only in an ideal world. The draft itself doesn't embed any manipulative norms. But the 'creativity' of our political technologists has long been known," Aivazovska explains.

Meanwhile, she emphasizes that the law on local referendums doesn't pose a large threat to Ukraine, in particular, separatism manifestations: "As the law on local referendums concerns only issues that fall within the competence of local councils, it's not possible to enforce norms on territories, the language of the foreign exchange rate, etc. Therefore, it doesn't carry any risks."

However, Aivazovska admits that certain problems with this law may arise too. However, according to her, they will concern funding, among other things.

"Given that the local referendum procedure involves funding only from the local budget, there might be a situation where the local budget manager claims that there are no resources and they will not be allocated, and then the initiative group will have to go to court. But it's hard to imagine such a situation," she explains.

In summary, Aivazovska stresses that the law on local referendums doesn't carry political and geopolitical risks: "If the letter of the law is followed, it will be possible to put only issues related to local self-government on the agenda of such a referendum."

To recap, the head of Verkhovna Rada Dmytro Razumkov considers that today the president has no reason to dissolve parliament.