Post Staff Writer
 Kyiv Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko (Post file photo) |
As the result of a legal challenge brought by a parliament deputy, a Pechersk District Court judge has recommended that the Cabinet of Ministers remove Kyiv Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko from his appointed position as head of the Kyiv City Administration. But an Omelchenko aide said the powerful politician is not planning to abide by the Oct. 22 ruling, and said it was likely that the mayor will run for reelection when his current term expires in 2006. |
Omelchenko said he is the democratically elected mayor of Kyiv, and the court had no right to make its recommendation.
On Sept. 8, parliament Deputy Leonid Chernovetsky filed a civil suit seeking to have the influential mayor sidelined. He argued that in addition to being an underachieving civil servant, Omelchenko had turned 65 on Aug. 1. Chernovetsky argued that Ukraine�s 1996 constitution set a mandatory retirement age of 65 for civil servants, and that the limitation applied to Omelchenko in his capacity as the appointed head of the Kyiv City Administration.
The city administration post is generally regarded to carry far more clout than the elected mayoral position. Historically, Ukraine�s president has appointed the elected mayor to serve as head of the city administration as well.
Omelchenko said that he had no intention of stepping down from either of the positions.
�As I have done until now, I plan to continue on with all my responsibilities as head of the Kyiv City Administration,� Omelchenko is quoted as saying on the city�s Web site.
Omelchenko spokesman Vasyl Tuhluk said that his boss �isn�t worried� about the court�s decision, since the issue wasn�t theirs to decide in the first place.
�This is not [the Pechersk�s court] decision,� said Tuhluk on Oct. 27. �This is a matter for the Constitutional Court.�
Chernovetsky, meanwhile, was un-moved.
�The Pechersk District Court has reached a verdict,� said Chernovetsky, who is also an attorney, in a prepared statement on Oct. 27. �The decision of the court is final. It can be appealed in accordance with the law.�
The deputy�s lawsuit was unusual. Presidents have removed elected officials in the past for various reasons, including dereliction of duty. But no precedent exists for the judicial removal of an elected official.
Chernovetsky, an unaffiliated deputy who has sided with pro-Presidential forces in the past, said that he did not know whether Omelchenko would appeal the Pechersk District Court decision.
Tuhluk said Omelchenko would simply ignore the decision and continue to govern in his dual role. He said that Chernovetsky had other motives for his campaign against the mayor.
�Chernovetsky needed to raise his political image and improve his rating,� Tuhluk said. �No normal person behaves in the way that [Chernovetsky] did.�
�Omelchenko will run again in 2006,� he said.