Ukraine: political standoff continues as parliament keeps working

Wednesday, 04 April 2007

By the thousands, Ukrainians are gathered in Kyiv outside the Verkhovna Rada in a scene reminiscent of the Orange Revolution of 2004. Only now they're supporting Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, not his political rival, President Viktor Yushchenko. But Yushchenko's supporters also promise to crowd into nearby Independence Square to show their support for the president in the country's biggest political crisis since the overturned election of 2004. Yushchenko said on April 3 there's no turning back. A decree dissolving parliament and setting new elections for May 27 had just become official when it was published in the government gazette. Yushchenko signed the decree on April 2 after seven hours of fruitless talks with Yanukovych's supporters in parliament over what the president says is the prime minister's unconstitutional method of getting members of the legislature to change their political allegiances. The two rivals met for about four hours at Yushchenko's office, but the meeting ended without a statement from either man.

 

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