ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, June 29, 1996                TAG: 9607010056
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL   PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: KIEV, UKRAINE 

UKRAINE ADOPTS ITS FIRST CONSTITUTION

After a marathon 23-hour session, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted the country's first post-Soviet constitution Friday, ending four years of resistance by Communists and averting a showdown with President Leonid D. Kuchma.

``Wisdom has triumphed,'' Kuchma proclaimed after the 315-36 vote to approve the long-awaited national charter.

Only two days earlier, left-wing deputies had blocked approval of key provisions, prompting the president to threaten a national referendum that would have deprived the Parliament of a final say on the constitution.

The new constitution eliminates Soviet legal legacies by guaranteeing the rights to own private property - including land - and to engage in business.

While retaining the existing one-chamber parliament, it grants broad authority to the executive branch, including the power to issue economic decrees during a three-year transition period. - Los Angeles Times

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