KYIV. Feb 20 (Interfax) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko believes a new edition of the Ukrainian constitution should grant the president more powers to prevent conflicts between government institutions.

"The fact that the president is elected in nationwide elections determines the sphere of his constitutional powers. These powers should be focused on preventing conflict situations in relations between government institutions, including abuse of power. Preserving the Ukrainian Cabinet of ministers' status as the principal body in the executive system, it is necessary to adjust these relations, considering that the Cabinet's purview is closely tied to the president's purview in the governance system as regards national security and defense," Yushchenko said at the first meeting of the National Constitutional Council in Kyiv on Wednesday.

A new edition of the constitution should also determine the president's status in relations with the parliament, the Cabinet, and other government bodies, Yushchenko said. "It is necessary to determine the status of a nationally elected president of Ukraine as a guarantor of national sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the constitution () primarily as regards national security and defense," he said.

In addition, the president also said he was confident that constitutional reform should increase the role of the parliamentary system in Ukraine, taking into account all political groups represented in the parliament.

The provision on delegating by local self-government bodies of some of their powers to local state administrations should be removed from a new edition of the constitution, Yushchenko said. In addition, the president believes that a new version of the constitution should determine powers of regional councils in line with the European Charter of Local Self-Government. He warned that the constitution should include provisions preventing regional separatism or confrontation motivated by ethnic, language, and other reasons.

The National Constitutional Council needs to consider the possibility that a new constitution legitimatize the establishment of associations or other forms of consolidation of local self-government bodies, he said.