Yushchenko gives ultimatum to MPs

UKRAINE:President Viktor Yushchenko has given Ukraine's parliament until tonight to adopt legislation allowing new elections, amid fears that political wrangling may drag the country back into crisis.

Mr Yushchenko and prime minister Viktor Yanukovich called a truce in their long-running power struggle this week and pledged to hold parliamentary elections on September 30th.

But the vote can only officially be scheduled after the legislature passes a number of laws, amends others and approves a list of candidates - all areas that could reignite hostility between allies of the president and other pro-western parties, and Mr Yanukovich's parliamentary majority that favours close ties with Russia.

"The head of state . . . calls on deputies from all parties to vote in favour of the laws," Mr Yushchenko said yesterday, when suspending an earlier decree dissolving parliament.

"The two days given by the president for the adoption of these laws will be a test of political responsibility," he added.

Parliament is also due to approve election financing and changes to the electoral commission, as well as bills aimed at helping Ukraine join the World Trade Organisation, a move that some of Mr Yanukovich's allies oppose.

Deputies will also vote on whether to confirm laws passed last month by Mr Yanukovich's supporters in defiance of the president's order to disband parliament.

"The most unpredictable part of the conflict is behind us. But there will be no easy way of finally ending this crisis," said political analyst Oleksander Dergachyov.

"There is a risk that party factions will prove to be rather undisciplined and not submit to voting in mechanical fashion."

The two leaders have been at loggerheads since Mr Yushchenko triumphed in the so-called Orange Revolution of 2004, after which his reformist alliance quickly crumbled, allowing Mr Yanukovich to win control of parliament and become premier.

The current crisis reached boiling point in April, when Mr Yushchenko dissolved parliament and called snap elections after accusing his rival of illegally recruiting deputies from other parties in a bid to ultimately change the constitution and impeach the president.

Mr Yanukovich denied the claims and accused Mr Yushchenko of making an illegal grab for power.