Ukrainian Supreme Court dismisses lawsuit against dissolution of parliament
The Supreme Court of Ukraine has refused to consider a lawsuit that would seek to invalidate President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decree to dissolve Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, and hold snap parliamentary elections, the court posted on Facebook.
The unnamed plaintiff claimed that the dissolution of the Rada was a violation of his rights as a voter who voted in the 2014 parliamentary elections. He also considered Zelensky’s decree an infringement of his right to nominate himself as a candidate for parliament.
The claimant said that the holding of snap elections “hampers his plans to have a holiday in summer and to take part in the election of people’s deputies of Ukraine in autumn, as planned,” the court noted.
The court ruled that the process of terminating the Rada’s mandate ahead of schedule is constitutional, and that the president’s involvement in this process does not fall under the court’s jurisdiction. “The consideration of such a case falls under the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine,” the court’s statement reads.
Zelensky announced the dissolution of parliament on 20 May, the day of his inauguration. The relevant document has already been signed and come into force. The snap elections are scheduled for 21 July.
The president motivated his decision by claiming that the Rada has not had a coalition since February 2016. Parliament does not agree with this: the People’s Front party withdrew from a coalition only several days before Zelensky’s inauguration, which technically gives the Rada 30 days to form a new alliance, according to Parliamentary Chairperson Andriy Parubiy.
Zelensky’s decree has been appealed not only at the Supreme Court, which has reportedly received three such claims, but also at the Constitutional Court, to which 62 MPs from the People’s Front have appealed.