Monday, March 11, 2024

Did a coup d’état take place at the end of February 2014 in Ukraine?

At the end of February 2014, i.e. 10 years ago, Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych was unconstitutionally removed from office.

At that time, Western politicians and Western media tried to present this ousting as a legitimate act; see below a citation from the BBC website:

The vote to "remove Viktor Yanukovych from the post of president of Ukraine" was passed by 328 MPs.
Such ballots, passed by what is called constitutional majority, are binding and enter into force with immediate effect, the BBC's Ukraine analyst Olexiy Solohubenko reports.

However, you can yourself read Article 111 of the Constitution of Ukraine below and find what is required for removal of Ukrainian President from office; this text is translated from the official website of the President of Ukraine: 

Article 111.
The decision on the removal of the President of Ukraine from office under the procedure of impeachment shall be adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine i.e. by Ukrainian Parlieament - by at least three-quarters of its constitutional composition upon a review of the case by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and receipt of its opinion on the observance of the constitutional procedure of investigation, and consideration of the case of impeachment, and upon receipt of the opinion of the Supreme Court of Ukraine to the effect that the acts of which the President of Ukraine is accused hate signs of treason or other crime. 

The constitutional composition of the Verkhovna Rada are 450 deputies; see below a citation from the official website of the Verkhovna Rada:

Article 76.
The constitutional composition of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine shall comprise 450 Members of Parliament of Ukraine elected for a five-year term on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot.

Three-fourths of 450 Members of Parliament of Ukraine are 337 MPs; however only 328 Ukrainian MPs voted for removal of Viktor Yanukovych from office.

And there were neither opinion of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine nor the one of the Supreme Court at all, although such opinions are required by Article 111 of Ukrainian Constitution.

Now you can read in Wikipedia what the word “coup d’état” means:

A coup d'état, or simply a coup, is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership.

Therefore, all relevant criteria of a coup d'état were met in the case of Yanukovych’s removal from office:

  • It was an illegal action;
  • It was performed by a government elite, i.e. by Ukrainian Members of Parliament;
  • It was performed to unseat an incumbent leadership.


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