Following an intense week of mounting confrontation, President Viktor Yushchenko opted to postpone the previously announced early parliamentary elections from May 27 to June 24.
Speaking on national television last Wednesday, Yushchenko said he planned to use the extra time to try and resolve the ongoing bitter political dispute with his political arch-rival Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.
"I am signing this order to be able to settle problems in a democratic way…I am confident of the legality and political necessity of this decision and I am sure that both the Ukrainian society and responsible Ukrainian politicians understand it," he said.
The President added it was necessary to push the election date back in order to resolve outstanding funding issues and ensure adequate time for preparation.
Yushchenko issued the first decree setting early elections on April 2 after 11 pro-Presidential members of the Verkhonva Rada defected to Yanukovych's parliamentary majority, bringing its total number close to the 300 required to override Yushchenko’s presidential veto.
On uncharted waters
The new Presidential decree left Yanukovych somewhat perplexed, forcing him to shorten an official trip to Uzbekistan.
"It breaks all agreements reached after the signing of the first decree. Such actions don’t help in building trust and don't provide much hope for the future," the Prime Minister told reporters in Tashkent.
The Verkhovna Rada has declared the new order unconstitutional and called on the Constitutional Court to consider its legality, accusing Yushchenko of "lacking the willpower to reach a political and legal compromise to resolve the crisis." Yanukovych's allies in the Rada meanwhile accused the President of trying to sideline the Supreme Court.
"Today, the Constitutional Court's procedures came under attack making it impossible to rule on the April 2 decree," said Raisa Bohatyryova, head of Yanukovych's Party of Regions-led faction.
Impeachment moves
Meanwhile, several deputies from various factions have launched impeachment proceedings against the President. Parliamentary Speaker Oleksandr Moroz asked a special parliamentary committee on regulatory matters to consider an impeachment motion against Yushchenko.
"The President has placed himself above the Constitution, admitted his own violation of the country's supreme law and can therefore no longer act as President," Taras Chornovil of the Party of Regions claimed.
The prospect of impeachment has already been raised by Prime Minister Yanukovych, who earlier threatened to initiate proceedings if the court found the Presidential decree unconstitutional.
Volodymyr Shapoval, a Yushchenko ally in the Constitutional Court, however said the first Presidential decree was no longer valid therefore there was no basis left for the Constitutional Court to continue deliberating its legality.
Moroz warned the country is on the verge of a split, adding that Yushchenko's new order was "nonsense" and an "usurping of power." He however urged the Rada and the Cabinet of Ministers to refrain from making any radical moves.
"Early elections that are not based on legal grounds will never end. We are at risk of creating a dangerous precedent which could tear the country apart," he said.
Opposition leaders however said the new Presidential decree would "restore justice" and called upon supporters to rally in Kyiv. "Early elections will be the coalition's retribution for treason, lies, hypocrisy and corruption," according to a joint statement by opposition BYUT leader Yulia Tymoshenko, Our Ukraine party leader Vyacheslav Kirilenko and former minister of the interior Yuriy Lutsenko.
"What is going on in Ukraine now looks like an act of cleansing. We want all political forces to end corruption through this early vote," Tymoshenko said. She also urged Yushchenko to take "tough measures" in ensuring a fair vote on June 24.
Meanwhile, thousands of Yanukovych’s supporters continued demonstrating in front of the Cabinet building, the Verkhovna Rada, the Central Election Commission and the Constitutional Court.
Yushchenko can’t back down
Oleksandr Lytvynenko, a political analyst at the Kyiv-based Razumkov Centre for Political Studies, said the situation had reached deadlock and the President had no choice now but to stay the course come what may. "This time, Yushchenko will do his best to hold a new vote. Sabotage will be considered a criminal offence with all the usual consequences," he added.
Meanwhile, according to Ukraine's electoral legislation, which has faced international criticism for its lack of clarity and thoroughness, campaigning should have begun last Friday, i.e. 59 days ahead of
the vote.
According to the law, the nomination of candidates must take place 40 days before the vote, i.e. on May 4 and all candidates should have their nominations submitted to the Central Election Commission 25 days before the day of the vote or by
May 29.
Meanwhile, territorial election constituencies have to be formed 40 days before the vote by May 4.
Kyiv-based political analyst Mykhailo Pohrebynskiy said Yushchenko would be making attempts to persuade Yanukovych to accept the new elections and that both sides could eventually agree to reschedule the vote for some time in the autumn following mutual concessions.
An outside perspective
The foreign press continued to give the ongoing political crisis generous coverage last week. In an article in the British daily The Guardian, University of Birmingham research fellow Nat Copsey argued that the problem at its simplest is the inability of the President and the Rada to work together constructively to deliver key reforms in public services, state bureaucracy and the judiciary.
Copsey wrote: "Ukraine…in common with many other post-Soviet states, suffers from the weakness, incompetence and venality of its political class. Yushchenko has made many serious miscalculations over the past two years, but his credentials as a democrat are not in dispute. The same cannot be said for Yanukovych, who tried to rig the 2004 presidential elections."
Ukraine, according to Copsey, is suffering from an absence of constitutional precedent, which has made it impossible for all sides to agree on the balance of power between the President, the Rada and the legislature. Instead there has been a continuous bitter power struggle between Yushchenko and Yanukovych.
"Such a crisis cannot be readily resolved through negotiations," the article continued. "Therefore Yushchenko's decision to dissolve parliament and call early elections is a step intended to provide a fresh mandate for a new government."
In line with the view stated by many Western analysts last week, Copsey wrote that fresh elections would be the only way to break the current impasse.
