A member of Ukraine's National Guard
A member of Ukraine's National Guard holds flowers as he takes part in a memorial service for his comrade Ihor Debrin, who was killed by a grenade during a nationalist protest outside the parliament building on Monday, outside Kiev, Ukraine, September 2, 2015. Several explosive devices, including smoke bombs and one grenade, were thrown from the crowd at the parliament during a rowdy debate on constitutional amendments that would give greater self-governance to rebel-held areas in the east. Three guardsmen died as a result of the unrest, according to local media, citing Ukrainian interior ministry aide Anton Gerashenko. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

The head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, dismissed the constitutional reform in Ukraine on Wednesday by calling it a “farce.” He said it was not in line with the Minsk Agreements.

"As of today, no point of the Minsk Agreements has been fully implemented by Kiev: military hardware has not been withdrawn from the disengagement line, moreover, its number has been increased, the law on amnesty has not been adopted by the Verkhovna Rada," Russian news agency TASS quoted Zakharchenko by saying.

"As regards the constitutional reform in the sphere of decentralization - it can’t be called other than a farce. That law, which already led to the death of people in front of the Verkhovna Rada, not only is out of line with the Minsk Agreements, but directly contradicts them," the DPR leader said.

The decentralization bill was approved by the Constitutional court in Ukraine on July 31. A month later, the first hearing was passed with a majority of 265 while 300 would be needed for the bill to pass second hearing.

Citizen journalist Kirill Mikhailov wrote the constitutional amendments would give more power to local councils. It will levy local taxes and define economic and social policies of their constituents. The most controversial part of the amendments is article 18 of the “Transitional Provisions.”

“The specifics of executing local governance in certain counties of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions are defined by a separate law,” Mikhailov quoted the article on Euro Maidan Press. He wrote, according to critics of the Minsk agreements, the provision had been imposed on Ukraine by outside forces.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s recent comments had a meeting with Martin Sajdik. In the meeting with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe ambassador, Poroshenko reportedly hinted the "full implementation by the Ukrainian side of its political commitments on the Minsk Agreements of February 12, 2015."

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