Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said Friday that he was
ready to conditionally suspend his decree to dissolve parliament
and hold early parliamentary elections.
After a four-hour meeting with his rival Prime Minister Viktor
Yanukovych, Yushchenko told reporters that he would halt the
implementation of the decree if the two sides could reach a
compromise package to end the ongoing political crisis.
Yushchenko said the parliament, controlled by the governing
coalition led by Yanukovych, must approve 10 to 12 bills, including
legislation on elections, the opposition, the operation of
parliament and the national unity declaration he has advocated.
The president also called for a referendum on an amendment to
the constitution, and reiterated that there was no social
confrontation in Ukraine and the differences between various
political forces could be bridged.
The Ukrainian constitutional court started Tuesday to examine
the legality of the presidential decree to terminate the present
legislature. More than 14,000 supporters of Yanukovych and
Yushchenko staged rival rallies near the court Friday. With the
intervention of police, no conflicts took place between the two
camps.
Yushchenko signed on April 2 a decree to dismiss parliament and
call early elections. The governing coalition, which holds a
majority of seats in parliament, has strongly opposed the decree
and requested the constitutional court to rule on its legality.
(Xinhua News Agency April 21, 2007)
