news-Yuschenko's supporters storm the Rada (not really)

[K. A. Pital]

The Higher Rada was stormed by about a hundred Yuschenko supporters.
They went over the fence and tried to get inside the building. The guards succeeded in stopping them. No information about any victims.

The cause was that the Higher Rada turned down the oppositionary project of 'Prevention of anticonstisutional actions and separatist movements which threaten the territorial integrity of Ukraine".

An alternative anti-separatist project received the most voices.

The opposition's project, rejected by the Rada, had the following major notes:
1) condemnation of all separatistic actions
2) dump the current government with Yanukovich (!!!)
3) dump the heads of Donezk, Lugansk and Kharkov regions (!!!)
4) vote of no-confidence to the general prosecutor (!!!)
5) a re-election of the president 12 or 19 of December

The head of Rada asked oppositioners to stop these actions; he ensured that no anticonstitutional actions would ever be approved by the Higher Rada.

Viktor Yanukovich noted that if the Supreme Court decides that the election results in Donezk and Lugansk are invalid due to violations in these regions (supposedly the only regions to report violations), he will accept a re-vote in these regions.

[Mayabird]

Link? Source?

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Link? Source?

Stas is in Russia, and he is presumably hearing this from a Russian-language source.

[MKSheppard]

Russia has invaded the Ukraine





Ooookay...nope...i Just said that to get a rise out of you all.

[HemlockGrey]

I heard on NPR that a dozen protestors pushed their way into the legislature but were dispersed by security guards. It might have been "a few dozen", but that's still pretty pathetic storming.

[K. A. Pital]

It comes from www.rbc.ru (Ros Business Consulting), one of the top russian business news site on the Internet.
It said exactly "about a hundred" (okolo sotni). Several dozens is/can be about a hundred. In a more recent publication it said just "several" or "some" ( http://top.rbc.ru/index1.html?daythemes_20041201110841 )

The "storming" was pathetic, no doubt. Nonetheless, it has shown the intents of the opposition - they oppose the decisions of the Rada, unless the Rada supports their cause.

And the situation is getting worse. Yuschenko declared that he stops all negotiations with the government and begun a "total mobilisation" of his supporters.

[Colonel Olrik]

thread title fixed

[Hokalus]

Ukraine MPs vote down government
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4057213.stm

The dispute has led to mass protests by both sides
Ukraine's parliament has passed a no-confidence motion in Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych as a crisis over the disputed presidential poll continues.
MPs narrowly backed an opposition bid to dismiss Mr Yanukovych and his government on grounds of mismanagement.

Electoral authorities say Mr Yanukovych beat the opposition's Viktor Yushchenko despite claims of vote-rigging.

Ukraine's outgoing President Leonid Kuchma has formally proposed holding a new poll to end the stand-off.

The US and the European Union said the 21 November election run-off fell short of democratic norms, and the Supreme Court has delayed publication of the results while it considers the vote-rigging allegations.

The BBC's Stephen Mulvey in Kiev says reports are circulating that a ruling by the court could come late on Wednesday.

Interim government

In parliament, 229 MPs - three more than required - voted in favour of sacking Mr Yanukovych as prime minister and creating an interim government.

It was the second attempt to pass the no-confidence motion after Tuesday's session ended without agreement.

Our correspondent says the government will not automatically be dismissed now the resolution has been passed, as this requires the signature of the president.

Forcing through the dissolution without presidential approval would require a larger majority: two-thirds of MPs, or 301 votes.

However, the decision certainly has symbolic significance and keeps up the pressure on Mr Yanukovych, our correspondent says.

Nestor Shufrych, a member of Mr Yanukovych's party, described the vote as "howls and snivellings" on the part of parliament.

"The president is the guardian of the constitution and he won't pay attention to this. He won't take this seriously," Mr Shufrych told the BBC.

He said it was an illegal decision and that they would contest it in the Constitutional Court.

In a separate vote, the local parliament in Mr Yanukovych's home region of Donetsk decided to hold a referendum on 9 January to seek autonomy from central government.


Mediation efforts

At the same time, international mediators are converging on Ukraine in a fresh attempt to break the deadlock brought about by the disputed elections.

Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski and his Lithuanian counterpart Valdas Adamkus arrived in Kiev on Wednesday morning.

Russian official Boris Gryzlov will also be joining EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana to seek an end to the crisis, following the collapse of talks between the two sides.

"I hope that with the goodwill of everyone, we will make some progress in the coming days," Mr Solana said on Tuesday night before a meeting with President Kuchma.

However, our correspondent says the chances of a breakthrough in negotiations do not look good.

Mr Kuchma told an economic conference on Wednesday that he had already suggested the holding of a new presidential election.

Simply re-running the 21 November vote would be "unconstitutional", he said.

"Where in the world do they have a third round of elections? A re-run of the election is a farce," he added.

The outgoing president's comments came a day after Mr Yanukovych said he would only agree to a re-run of the election - proposed as a compromise solution - if the two candidates did not stand again.

[/url][/quote]