RIA Novosti: Ukrainian Parliament Votes Against Referendum on Decentralization

KIEV, May 6 (RIA Novosti) – The Ukrainian parliament has voted against holding a decentralization referendum on May 25 in Ukraine, Parliamentarian Alexander Briginec wrote on Facebook Tuesday.

“Some 154 members voted for. Did not succeed. Thank God,” Briginec wrote on his Facebook page.

“Svoboda, UDAR, and Sovereign European Ukraine [political parties] have a similar stance, so it is unlikely that the populism of this referendum will work. The referendum should be held, but not during the war,” Briginec wrote.

The Ukrainian government proposed a bill on Monday to hold a nationwide referendum May 25. Its questions were to be determined by a separate resolution.

Parliamentarians offered two sets of questions for the referendum. The first version proposed only one question: “Do you support the territorial integrity of Ukraine within the territory defined by the Constitution of Ukraine as a sovereign, independent, democratic, and unitary European state with broad powers of regions and local communities?” The respondents can answer either “Yes” or “No.”

The second version proposed two questions: the one about the integrity of Ukraine, and a question about the status of the Russian language.

Federalization supporters in the country’s eastern cities of Kharkiv and Donetsk have refused to recognize the legitimacy of the Ukrainian government, which took power as a result of a February coup, demanding Crimea-style referendums on the status of their regions.