The simplest way of building a party system
22.05.2000
In May 1991 the Constitutional-Democratic Party (CDP) was initiated, and in 1993 the Ministry of Justice duly registered this party.
The party regards itself as the successor of the so-named party in the pre-revolutionary times. Ideologically the party is somewhere between liberalism and conservatism; it is based on the works of Hayek, Popper and other researchers of totalitarianism and open society. The main goal of the CDP is the political expression of interests of the middle class — businessmen and intellectuals, creating conditions for building the civil society based on democracy, entrepreneurial activity and minimization of state regulation of market relations.
In 1992 and in 1994 the Constitutional democrats directed their draft of the Constitution to the Supreme Rada and Presidential administration, but this draft was disregarded. In 1994 we directed the concept of the national program of fighting corruption to L.Kuchma, together with some similar documents; all of them were disregarded.
In January 1997 the Zhytomir oblast Directorate of justice legalizes Zhytomir branch of the CDP. From the day of foundation the CDP opposed L. Kravchuk. During the Presidential election of 1994 Zhytomir Constitutional democrats supported L. Kuchma and headed his election headquarter in the oblast. We believed that, having become the President, Kuchma would begin to fulfil his election promises. When we got convinced that the promises were not kept, the CDP went to opposition.
After the notorious adoption of the Constitution in the small hours of the morning of 28 June 1996 the CDP was the only party which declared that the adoption of such Constitution was a tragedy for the Ukrainian people. The Constitution confirmed the superiority of the state over economy and private life of citizens, an absolute irresponsibility of the state, inefficient system of administration, absence of feedback to the state from the society. The CDP published in the republican and regional mass media hundreds of articles criticizing the existing regime and showing that the authorities often apply administrative methods typical for fascist regimes.
In the Presidential election of 1999 the CDP actively supported Aleksandr Moroz. that is why the authorities decided to finish with the inconvenient oppositional party. It is surprising how brazenly it was done.
In November 1999 the Zhytomir oblast Directorate of justice sent an letter (No. 3566 of 4 November) to the head of the oblast branch of the CDP. It read that, according to Order No. 749/3 of 20 October issued by the directorate’s head the record of the registration of the Zhytomir oblast branch of the CDP is liquidated. No explanations were added.
As is well-known, the legal procedure of the registration of political parties is written in the ‘Regulations on the procedure of legalization of unions of citizens’ approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of 26 March 1993 with amendments of 16 October 1998. According to p. 3 of Article 14 of these regulations: ‘The registering body takes a decision on the liquidation of the record only in case of terminating the activity of the union’. Certainly, the CDP during 8 years of its existence never terminated its activity and does not intend to do it! The bureaucrats from justice, whose duty is to guard the law, broke the law together with Article 36 of the Constitution, which declares the right of citizen to the freedom of uniting in political parties, as well as p. 4 of Article 37 of the Constitution which stipulates that a union of citizens may be forbidden only by the decision of court.
The method invented by Zhytomir bureaucrats is promising and may be taken as standard of how to trample the law.
The party regards itself as the successor of the so-named party in the pre-revolutionary times. Ideologically the party is somewhere between liberalism and conservatism; it is based on the works of Hayek, Popper and other researchers of totalitarianism and open society. The main goal of the CDP is the political expression of interests of the middle class — businessmen and intellectuals, creating conditions for building the civil society based on democracy, entrepreneurial activity and minimization of state regulation of market relations.
In 1992 and in 1994 the Constitutional democrats directed their draft of the Constitution to the Supreme Rada and Presidential administration, but this draft was disregarded. In 1994 we directed the concept of the national program of fighting corruption to L.Kuchma, together with some similar documents; all of them were disregarded.
In January 1997 the Zhytomir oblast Directorate of justice legalizes Zhytomir branch of the CDP. From the day of foundation the CDP opposed L. Kravchuk. During the Presidential election of 1994 Zhytomir Constitutional democrats supported L. Kuchma and headed his election headquarter in the oblast. We believed that, having become the President, Kuchma would begin to fulfil his election promises. When we got convinced that the promises were not kept, the CDP went to opposition.
After the notorious adoption of the Constitution in the small hours of the morning of 28 June 1996 the CDP was the only party which declared that the adoption of such Constitution was a tragedy for the Ukrainian people. The Constitution confirmed the superiority of the state over economy and private life of citizens, an absolute irresponsibility of the state, inefficient system of administration, absence of feedback to the state from the society. The CDP published in the republican and regional mass media hundreds of articles criticizing the existing regime and showing that the authorities often apply administrative methods typical for fascist regimes.
In the Presidential election of 1999 the CDP actively supported Aleksandr Moroz. that is why the authorities decided to finish with the inconvenient oppositional party. It is surprising how brazenly it was done.
In November 1999 the Zhytomir oblast Directorate of justice sent an letter (No. 3566 of 4 November) to the head of the oblast branch of the CDP. It read that, according to Order No. 749/3 of 20 October issued by the directorate’s head the record of the registration of the Zhytomir oblast branch of the CDP is liquidated. No explanations were added.
As is well-known, the legal procedure of the registration of political parties is written in the ‘Regulations on the procedure of legalization of unions of citizens’ approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of 26 March 1993 with amendments of 16 October 1998. According to p. 3 of Article 14 of these regulations: ‘The registering body takes a decision on the liquidation of the record only in case of terminating the activity of the union’. Certainly, the CDP during 8 years of its existence never terminated its activity and does not intend to do it! The bureaucrats from justice, whose duty is to guard the law, broke the law together with Article 36 of the Constitution, which declares the right of citizen to the freedom of uniting in political parties, as well as p. 4 of Article 37 of the Constitution which stipulates that a union of citizens may be forbidden only by the decision of court.
The method invented by Zhytomir bureaucrats is promising and may be taken as standard of how to trample the law.