Here they go again. If nothing else, Ukrainians are bound and determined to have a democratic and representative government.
More than 70,000 Ukrainians rallied in the center of Kyiv to press President Viktor Yushchenko to dissolve the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) and call new elections, deepening a political feud between the President and PM Yanukovich.
President Viktor Yushchenko accused the Yanukovych government on Thursday of violating the constitution by forming a coalition based on individuals rather than political factions. Yushchenko's charges were linked to a recent defection of a dozen opposition lawmakers to the ruling majority.
Yushchenko slammed the ruling (Party of Regions) majority for a "baldfaced revision of the will of the Ukrainian voters, a breach of the constitution, and a direct road to lawlessness." He suggested that he might respond by dissolving parliament. "I will never allow the parliamentary majority to be reformatted in violation of the constitution. If any political forces believe they can claim 300 seats and they declare repeatedly that there will be a 300-deputy coalition in parliament, then a political decision shall be made and we will call early parliamentary elections," Yushchenko said.
Yushchenko has reportedly invited Yanukovych and parliament speaker Oleksandr Moroz as well as leaders of parliamentary factions for consultations on this controversial issue, but it is unclear when such talks could take place.
Demonstrators at Saturday's rally were unhappy with attempts by Yanukovych to expand his power base by siphoning away lawmakers from pro-Yushchenko factions — a move that has significantly strengthened Yanukovych's control over Ukraine.
Earlier Saturday, the increasingly sidelined Yushchenko, who did not attend the evening rally, accused Yanukovych of breaking promises he made in a power-sharing agreement and trying to amass more power by poaching lawmakers from the blocs that support the president. Yushchenko has expressed concerns that Yanukovych could strengthen his parliamentary majority to 300 seats in the 450-seat parliament — enough to override presidential vetoes and make changes to the constitution.
Yushchenko threatened to dissolve the Verkhovna Rada if the situation did not change.
"If the work of the majority is not renewed on the basis of the constitution, I will sign the decree to dissolve parliament," Yushchenko told a conference of his party's delegates Saturday morning, prompting wild cheers and applause.
Seeking to push him to go ahead with the threat, his political backers called supporters out into Kiev's Independence Square, which was the epicenter of the 2004 Orange Revolution protests that ushered Yushchenko into power.
About 70,000 people turned out, waving flags and banners. The demonstrators accused Yanukovych of effectively trying to revise the results of last year's parliamentary election. "It is not the right of the president, it is his obligation," Yulia Tymoshenko told demonstrators.
The crowd shouted, "Together we will win."
Meanwhile, a smaller crowd of about 20,000 Yanukovych supporters held a rival rally nearby.
Dissolving parliament could plunge Ukraine into a new political crisis, particularly since Yanukovych's coalition has stated it will refuse to abide by the president's decision.
The standoff between the the 2 Viktors arose earlier this month after 11 lawmakers allied with the president defected and crossed over into Yanukovych's coalition, in violation of a new law that compels lawmakers to remain with the party they were elected with. The constitution also requires that political coalitions must be formed between entire parties — not individual lawmakers or small groups of lawmakers. There were news reports that the bribes being offered by the party of regions for floor crossers were in the neighbourhood of $6 million (US).
Yushchenko came to power after hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians flooded onto Independence Square to protest Yanukovych's fraud-marred presidential victory in 2004.
"Razom Nas Bahato" may make a comeback...
(With Files from AP/RFE)
Sunday, April 01, 2007
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3 comments:
Disagree with your estmate of numbers way off more like aound 30-35,000 each.
Well, I would suggest from what I has been reported by Associated Press and on the ground, and has been reported on RFE and Radio Svoboda, I think that you are a just spinning for Yanukovych.
I suspected that, too, Pumpernickel.
Rumour also has it that the demonstrators in the Yanukhovych camp were on his (or someone's) payroll.
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