Completion of the decentralization reform at the community level is a very important process for Ukraine contributing to the further development of communities. Decentralization presupposes the responsibility of local self-government authorities to the voters for the efficiency of their work, and to the state for its legitimacy. Active Community has joined the process of holding public consultations on decentralization.

It is expected that the local elections, which are to take place in October 2020, will be held in a new uniform administrative and territorial structure.

Recently, on June 12, 2020, the Cabinet of Ministers approved draft resolutions on creation and liquidation of districts, according to which the existing 490 districts in Ukraine will be eliminated and 129 new ones will be created.

In order for the amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine to be proper and to reflect the interests of all Ukrainians, it was decided to hold a series of public consultations regarding the decentralization process and discuss with all stakeholders their views on key aspects on these changes. Public consultations on amendments to the Constitution in terms of decentralization, starting from March 2020, have already taken place in 7 cities of Ukraine. On June 15, consultations were held with the representatives of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

According to Dmytro Hurin, a people’s deputy of the Servant of the People party, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on local self-government and public self-organization bodies of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Organization of the State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning, “without the local self-government there will be no strong Ukraine.”

“We have met more than once, and we have more than once discussed decentralization and what the Constitution should be. The meeting with the representatives of Donetsk and Luhansk regions is one of the most important. There are not only those in the near-front zone who support Ukraine, but there are also the citizens with other views, there are separatist sentiments. That is why this discussion is very important for us, so that we can take these separatist risks into account in arranging the functioning of the state and in organization of the local self-government,” Dmytro Hurin stated.

The public consultation is a kind of inclusive dialogue, the participants of which discussed a number of issues, including the following: distribution of powers between the state and local self-government bodies, financial protection of local self-government bodies, the form of partnership and interaction between the state and local self-government bodies and the number of levels of local self-government Ukraine needs.

All the results of the discussion have been recorded and will be analyzed in future and taken into account when amending the Constitution of Ukraine in terms of decentralization.

Note. The consultations are held on the joint initiative of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on the Organization of the State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning, the Office of the President of Ukraine and the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine.

Author: Head of the Public Affairs Office of “Active Community” All-Ukrainian Initiative Tetiana Kavunenko