12/08/2004 | Englishman

Top Stories - AFP


Ukraine parliament breaks standoff with historic vote

51 minutes ago Top Stories - AFP



KIEV (AFP) - Ukraine's parliament passed a controversial plan to weaken the presidency, breaking a tense standoff between outgoing President Leonid Kuchma and the opposition and smoothing the way for a new presidential vote on December 26.


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Slideshow: Ukraine Elections




The vote was hailed in Ukraine and abroad as a breakthrough in the political crisis that has split this strategic nation in two polarized camps and sparked Cold War-like rhetoric between Russia and the West.


By a crushing majority of 402 to 21, deputies at the Upper Rada approved the Kuchma-backed amendment, which transfers many of the president's powers to parliament, along with electoral law changes demanded by the opposition.


The chamber erupted in applause as the result appeared on a huge electronic board on the wall and the 66-year-old Kuchma, who made a rare appearance in the chamber to urge deputies to support his favored legislation, was among those clapping.


"Ukraine has gone through crisis several times and we always had the political will and understanding to make the right decisions," he told lawmakers minutes before the vote.


"This is an act of consolidation and reconciliation that proves Ukraine is united and indivisible," parliament speaker Volodymyr Litvin said afterward.


Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko called it "a day of compromise that ... opens the way for my victory" in the December 26 rematch with Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, he said.


Speaking from the eastern city of Donetsk Yanukovich, by contrast, slammed "a coup d'etat (that) is slowly taking place in the country today ... Chaos reigns and decisions are only taken by force."


Yushchenko was due to address his supporters later in the day in Kiev's Independence Square, where tens of thousands of people had gathered in his support round the clock for weeks in a so-called "orange revolution," named after the opposition colour.


Following the vote, the opposition lifted its blockade of government buildings in Kiev while a youth group, which has sent thousands of university students to the protests, called on them to return to classes.


Parliament's vote broke a tense faceoff between Kuchma and Yushchenko, sparked by a disputed election on November 21 that was later annulled because of fraud, and clears the way for the new round of the poll on December 26.


It was expected to boost Yushchenko's chances of winning that poll, which will pit him anew against Yanukovich, but significantly weaken his powers in the post in case of victory.


The amendment transfers important powers from the presidency to parliament, where opposition forces are now in a minority, and is due to enter into force by January 1, 2006 at the latest.


Under the reforms, the president loses the power to appoint all top posts except for the prime minister, defense and foreign ministers. His candidates for these three posts need to be approved by legislators as well.


Analysts say Kuchma has pushed the measure in a bid to retain influence after he steps down after a decade of oft-authoritarian rule in this former Soviet republic.


Yushchenko had earlier sought to delay the changes coming into force until after the 2006 legislative elections, when opposition forces are hoping to increase its representation in parliament.


But he compromised in exchange for changes to electoral law aimed at reducing the possibility during December's vote of the massive ballot fraud that had nearly snatched victory away from him.





Many hailed the deal, saying it boosted Yushchenko's chances at victory and would go a long way toward reconciling the country.

"We have begun to talk in the language of national consolidation," beamed Stepan Gavrish, a pro-government deputy.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who had thrice travelled to Kiev to mediate talks between Kuchma and the opposition, hailed the vote as a breakthrough.

"These decisions should paved the way for a free and fair re-run of elections in Ukraine on 26 December," he said from The Hague (news - web sites), adding that he was "very, very happy."

And US Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) said in Brussels that "Ukrainians are coming together to find a Ukrainian solution to this problem and we all stand by to help."

But Russia, who had backed Yanukovich for the presidency, said that only his victory could assure the unity of the country.

"I hope the election will not break the state's unity -- only a Yanukovich victory can keep Ukraine united," Russian parliament speaker Boris Gryzlov said in Kazakhstan.

Yushchenko and Yanukovich had squared off during the November 21 run-off, a vote officially won by Yanukovich but later annulled by the supreme court amid massive fraud.

The opposition had mobilized hundreds of thousands of supporters to mass round the clock in huge demonstrations in support of Yushchenko for weeks after the vote.

The vote polarized the country into two camps and drove a wedge between the West and Russia, with Moscow accusing the West of trying to install an ally in a country that has traditionally been under its sphere of influence.