Prime Minister Yanukovych is fired by Ukraine's parliament

By Seattle Times news Services

IVAN SEKRETAREV / AP Viktor Yushchenko, left, and Pro-Moscow presidential candidate and prime minister Viktor Yanukovych met again yesterday.

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The action boosted opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko's hopes of emerging from Ukraine's political crisis as the country's president while drawing a defiant refusal to step down from Yanukovych, whose bid for the presidency was backed by outgoing president Leonid Kuchma.

The dispute has brought hundreds of thousands of demonstrators into the streets of Kiev, wreaked havoc on Ukraine's economy and spurred talk of separatism in pro-Yanukovych eastern provinces.

Ukraine's Supreme Court is considering whether the Nov. 21 presidential runoff election was rigged to ensure Yanukovych's victory. Yushchenko won the first round of voting on Oct. 31 by a tiny margin among a field of 24 candidates, and he claims to be the legitimate winner of the runoff.

Ukraine's Central Election Commission had declared Yanukovych the winner by a margin of 871,402 votes, but the court barred the inauguration from taking place until it ruled on Yushchenko's appeal.

Yushchenko and Yanukovych agreed yesterday to resolve the conflict by relying on the ruling.

	SERGEI GRITS / AP Supporters of Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, the official winner of Ukraine's presidential election, wave campaign balloons and flags yesterday at the central square in Donetsk, an industrial city in eastern Ukraine.

Speaking to thousands of demonstrators enduring freezing weather in Kiev's Independence Plaza, Yushchenko said he regarded getting Yanukovych to agree to that condition as a major accomplishment.

"The conflict may be solved in the next day or two," Yushchenko told the crowd. "If the (Supreme Court) ruling is in line with the decisions made today, then we are one step from settlement. I have a feeling we will not have to wait much longer."

But Yushchenko has insisted on holding a new runoff election while Yanukovych and Kuchma have pushed for a new, first round of elections, which would open the door for a large field of candidates and weeks of campaigning.

Kuchma said that a repeat runoff would be "a farce," and that the only acceptable solution would be a new two-part election.

By endorsing a new vote, however, Kuchma has been seen as backing away from his previously firm support for Yanukovych.

Some observers said he was leaning toward promoting Serhiy Tyhypko, Yanukovych's former campaign manager and a former Central Bank chief, in any new election. Centrist parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn, who played a key role in engineering yesterday's no-confidence vote against Yanukovych, would be another potential candidate.

The no-confidence measure against Yanukovych and his government won the support of 229 legislators, three more than needed in the 450-seat parliament. The decision came a day after Yushchenko failed to amass enough votes for the prime minister's ouster.

Yushchenko-allied legislators said heated negotiations with parliament's various factions and blocs Tuesday night produced the backing needed to remove the Yanukovych government from office.

	Outgoing President Leonid Kuchma.

Ukrainian law requires Kuchma, Yanukovych's staunch ally, to abide by parliament's decision. However, he has 60 days to propose a new prime minister and Cabinet to parliament, and until then Yanukovych can stay in office.

Under Ukrainian law, the president is at the top of the country's hierarchy. He can hire and fire the prime minister, veto legislation and is the nation's commander in chief. The prime minister heads the Cabinet.

For his part, Yanukovych dismissed parliament's vote as politically driven and refused to relinquish his post.

"We will never accept any pressure of force and the language of ultimatums," Yanukovych said. "We do not understand such a language. We understand only the language of truth. ... The government will continue its work."

During the talks, Yushchenko also agreed to discontinue the tactic of calling on thousands of demonstrators to blockade key government buildings with human cordons. The blockades have curtailed the work of government, Kuchma has said, particularly at the Ukrainian Cabinet building where Yanukovych's office is situated.

Both sides also reaffirmed their commitment opposing the use of force and agreed to avoid any decision that threatened the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Yanukovych has come under harsh criticism for his involvement in talks among leaders in eastern provinces about seeking autonomy if Yushchenko became president.

Compiled from The Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post and Los Angeles TImes

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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