Under the guise of protecting “regional languages,” the
legislation significantly increases the role of the Russian language. 

The concerns from civic and religious organizations
about this law are well-summarized in a statement
from the Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Ukraine: “The draft law poses a threat to Ukrainian
society since it disregards the state status of the Ukrainian language, does
not protect minority languages at risk and arouses dissent and tension in
Ukrainian society”.

What Lytvyn’s motives can only be guessed since on July
4, following a blitzkrieg and highly irregular “vote” in parliament during his
absence, he resigned. But parliament refused to accept his resignation.

The civic partnership New Citizen has received a categorical response from Marina
Stavniychuk, a presidential adviser, says the draft law broke several regulations,
is unconstitutional and is at odds with the European Charter of Regional and
Minority Language.

The stakes are high both because of the divisive
nature of the law and the flagrant violations of legislative procedure..

           
The bill’s authors – Party of the Regions MPs Vadim Kolesnichenko and Serhiy
Kivalov — continue to assert that the law is in keeping with the European
Charter on Regional and Minority Languages and has received a favourable
Council of Europe’s Venice Commission assessment. 

Recently, Knut
Vollebaek, the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities followed up a
visit to Ukraine with a public statement calling the situation around the
new language law “deeply divisive” and urging the authorities to engage in
dialogue.

The aim of
the legislation is not to protect genuinely under-supported regional languages
in Ukraine, but to allow Ukrainian to be effectively ignored in most parts of
the country. Such cynical realism means that the financial consequences could
either be crippling or lead to the courts being inundated with civil lawsuits
by members of minorities whose rights, now supposedly enshrined in law,
continued to be flouted.

Moreover, a number of infringements to
procedure occurred. The first reading took place on June 5, a vote without
discussion and with a large number of parliamentarians absent. 

The
requisite month had not passed for the second reading, nor had many amendments
been discussed and added when, in the absence of Lytvyn and the deputy speaker,
the ruling Party of Regions bulldozed a “vote” through in record time. 

           
The very many warnings about the deeply divisive nature of this law deserve the
president’s attention, as do the shocking irregularities in the way the draft
bill has been pushed through. 

In
the face of clear public concern and infringements of the Constitution, Yanukovych’s
signature would deliver a grave blow to Ukraine’s already beleaguered
democracy.  

Halya Coynash is a
member of the Kharkiv Human Rights Group.