Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper since 1995

The epic war among Ukraine’s president, premier and their Orange Revolution nemesis is spreading.

esis is spreading. Preparations for the Euro 2012 soccer tournament and control of the nation’s courts have recently become new battlefields.

In the run-up to Euro 2012, politicians from the three rival camps have rushed to blame one another for lack of progress in getting ready for the soccer tournament to be co-hosted with Poland. As one politician aptly put it: This landmark opportunity to showcase the country could turn into a “national embarrassment.”

The uncontrollable appetite of Ukraine’s politicians is not a surprise. But yet again it is stretching the fragile fibers of this young democracy. For years, the three groups have also wrestled over the country’s main law, stretching the constitution for their own gains. Now the courts are being targeted since both the Orange Revolution heroes (Viktor Yushchenko and Yulia Tymoshenko) and its villain (Viktor Yanukovych) know very well how important it is to control the nation’s judicial system.

While President Yushchenko’s administration authored the original draft of this bill, the parliament’s judiciary committee — headed by the notorious Serhiy Kivalov - rehashed the proposal to further strengthen presidential powers. Each side wants control of the courts, which could — as in 2004 – play a key role in deciding who becomes president next. At stake is Ukraine’s corrupt court system. The possibility it could descend further into chaos seems very high.

Ukraine’s leadership should refrain from massive overhauls of the judicial system until the constitution is amended to set up a clear balance of power among Ukraine’s various branches of government. For now, raising judges’ salaries to realistic levels and punishing bribe-takers would be a good start.

The complete overhaul can wait for changes in Ukraine’s constitution, which may, unfortunately, come after the presidential elections.