Write About the Reform

President Leonid Kuchma has turned to the people of Ukraine with an open letter proposing opening a discussion on the bill On Introducing Changes to the Constitution of Ukraine, Interfax-Ukraine reports. “The Ukrainian system of government urgently needs serious change. We used to need strong presidential power to preserve stability in our society and state. Now the time, the country, and we have changed. It took us eleven years to build an independent Ukrainian state that has become an influential member of the world community. Througho ut these years, the civil peace in Ukraine has never been disturbed. In the past few years we have managed to achieve not so rapid but steady economic growth,” the address says. Pres. Kuchma asks citizens to visit one of the public reception rooms opened all over the country and express their proposals about the constitutional reform. Those who live far from large urban areas are invited to write directly to the Presidential Administration or to a district, city, or regional newspaper, in order to make their propositions known to the authorities.