Edward Leigh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Leigh on 2014-04-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has received advice on the legality of the removal from power of President Yanukovich, pursuant to Article 111 of the Constitution of Ukraine.

Mr David Lidington

The Government is not in a position to comment on the legal system in Ukraine. On 21 February, agreement was reached between the then opposition leaders and the then President, Viktor Yanukovych to resolve the political crisis afflicting Ukraine by: signing a new law within 48 hours to reinstate the 2004 Constitution; holding pre-term presidential elections in 2014; and conducting a comprehensive constitutional reform. However, later that day Yanukovych fled Kyiv, abandoning his office as Head of State and was therefore not in a position to fulfill the obligation he undertook to sign the law reinstating the 2004 constitution.

As the Ukrainian Government had already been dissolved by Yanukovych, Parliament was the only legitimate state body remaining. In view of Yanukovych’s action to effectively remove himself from office, Parliament approved a bill to remove Yanukovych from power, appoint an acting president and, in line with the constitution, to hold presidential elections within 90 days. The bill was approved by an overwhelming majority, including by representatives of Yanukovych’s Party of the Regions which remains the largest faction in the Rada.