UKRAINE: President Viktor Yushchenko and PM Viktor Yanukovich edge towards compromise

Ukraine's president placed conditions on any reversal of his dissolution of parliament on Friday (April 20), but his arch rival appeared to offer some hope of compromise in a stand-off that has prompted big street protests. Pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko, long at odds with Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, said he would suspend his decree if parliament passed or amended about a dozen laws. Yanukovich, friendlier to Moscow, has refused to implement the decree's call for a new parliamentary election in May. But on Friday (April 20), he suggested a compromise could be found. Both men have pledged to abide by any ruling from Ukraine's Constitutional Court, asked to rule whether the decree was legal. Backers and opponents of the decree massed in Kiev to try to recreate the aura of the 2004 "Orange Revolution" protests that swept Yushchenko to power. Yushchenko told a news conference that an agreement to end the stand-off could be clinched quickly if well-prepared. "Does the president agree to suspend his decree? Let me firmly say that I am in agreement if, after such an action and in a short period of time, a series of political compromises are made. Compromises that will involve that we, in terms of legislation, will take all the necessary steps to ensure that in the future it will be impossible to form a coalition in such a way as was brutally allowed in March of this year," Yushchenko said at the news conference. He demanded changes to a long list of laws, one of which boosted parliament's powers at the expense of the president. But he said he had reached an understanding with the prime minister on all issues except the snap election. "If we are talking about a compromise agreed in advance, if we have agreed on specific actions in terms of changing or amending concrete laws, this could be done in a day or two days, a short period of time," he said. Yanukovich, beaten and humiliated in the re-run of a rigged 2004 election but back in office since last August, told a rally of supporters that all differences could be dealt with by next week. "In a short period of time, we can remove all obstacles. The president said he was nearly ready to suspend his decree," Yanukovich said in Independence Square, focal point of the 2004 protests. Yushchenko appointed Yanukovich prime minister after his own "orange" allies scored badly in the last parliamentary election barely a year ago. The two have sniped continuously ever since. The president dissolved the chamber after accusing the prime minister of illegally enticing his supporters to cross the floor in parliament to enlarge the majority backing the government. European leaders have refrained from any mediation bid and urged both sides to use legal means to solve the row. They have also made clear that while Yushchenko got clear Western backing in 2004, neither side could expect such treatment now. Former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who lobbied hardest for a new election, was to address supporters later. Tymoshenko roused crowds alongside Yushchenko in 2004 and became his prime minister for eight months before being sacked. She has taken a more radical position than the president in vowing to ignore any ruling of the Constitutional Court.

ITN Source | April 21, 2007

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