Ukraine's Supreme Council (parliament) , after a special session Saturday, has declared in a symbolic way the country's disputed presidential election invalid as the standoff between the government and opposition drags on.
The invalidation declaration was passed by 255 of the 429 legislators attending the special parliament session on the election dispute, Ukrainian news media reported.
According to the Ukrainian constitution, the invalidation declaration is not legally binding. But it is clearly a demonstration of rising dissatisfaction over the November 21 presidential poll in the legislature.
The parliament also passed a vote of no-confidence in the Central Elections Commission, which declared earlier that Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych won the election.
The no-confidence vote is also not legally binding.
Opposition leader, former prime minister Viktor Yushchenko, has since last week repeatedly refused to accept his defeat, claiming he was cheated out of victory, and has been urging his supporters to took to the street.
Braving snow and wind, thousands of supporters of opposition presidential candidate, Yushchenko, remained on the capital's streets for the sixth day chanting slogans and demanding a re-run of the election.
Parliament is expected to discuss the postponement of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich's inauguration following a Supreme Court ruling.
Ukraine's Supreme Court ordered Thursday the election's final results not be published until it has examined an appeal lodged by the opposition against them.
Yanukovich was declared the winner of Sunday's election but cannot be inaugurated pending the hearing of an appeal to the Supreme Court filed by the Yushchenko camp. The court is to hear the case starting Monday. Meanwhile, regional courts are considering some 11,000 complaints over alleged voting fraud.
Council Chairman Vladimir Litvin proposed that lawmakers declare the vote invalid -- a declaration which would not have legal force but would be a show of political support for the opposition. Parliament has no power to overturn last Sunday's poll after the Central Election Commission declared Yanukovich the winner.
"The most realistic political solution, taking into account the accusations by both sides of massive fraud, is to declare the election not valid," Ukraine media quoted Litvin as saying.
Litvin criticized the Central Election Commission for " discrediting itself in the first round, undermining public trust in the institution as it is."
As Parliament met, the European Union (EU)'s current presidency, the Netherlands, urged Ukraine to hold new presidential elections before the year-end to bring the crisis to a close.
New elections are the only possible solution and the "ideal outcome" to the current impasse, Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot said Saturday on behalf of the EU.
Also on Saturday, a working group of four representatives from both presidential campaigns -- established after Friday's failed meeting to find a solution to the crisis -- said they expected to begin talks soon.
Yanukovich aide Stepan Havrysh, who was to participate on behalf of the prime minister, said he thought agreement might be reached within two days.
The two rivals for the presidency failed to reach agreement at a meeting Friday, presided over by outgoing President Leonid Kuchma and attended by mediators from Russia and the EU. But both sides agreed to set up a group to pursue talks.
Both sides also pledged to shun violence and allow the government to keep functioning.
The disputed election has raised tension between the West and Russia which have been engaged in an intense tug-of-war over the past few days lending support to their respective favorites.
On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Western countries of intervening in Ukraine's political crisis in a bid to draw the former Soviet republic toward the West.
Meanwhile, the EU and the United States have vehemently backed Yushchenko who favors closer ties with the West. The US has threatened "consequences" if the Ukrainian government accepts the disputed election results.
Yanukovich and Yushchenko each won around 40 percent of the vote in the first round of the presidential election held on Oct. 31 and on Wednesday the Central Election Commission declared Yanukovich the winner of a run-off vote.
Yanukovich enjoys strong backing in the pro-Russian, heavily industrialized eastern half of the country, while Yushchenko draws much support from Ukraine's west, a traditional stronghold of nationalism.