Ukraine to hold parliamentary election on Dec. 7
9/10/2008 17:22
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko announced today to hold
parliamentary election on Dec. 7.
"I decree ... to hold early elections on
Dec. 7," he said on his official website.
Yesterday, Yushchenko dissolved the
parliament and called an early election in a political crisis following his
party's withdrawal from the ruling coalition early September.
"In accordance
with the Constitution I announce the dissolution of the sixth parliament and
call an early vote," he said in a televised address to the nation.
Yushchenko
defended his move as the only way to defend the country's democracy and national
interests. He also vowed to hold "a democratic and lawful" vote.
Also on the
same day, Yushchenko held talks with the country's political leaders on the
issue of dissolving parliament, after which he left for Rome for a two-day
official visit to Italy.
The vote will be the third parliamentary election in
as many years. One year earlier, Ukraine held a snap parliamentary election in a
try to resolve a lasting political crisis.
Yushchenko's "Our Ukraine-People's
Self-Defense" bloc quit the ruling coalition last month after Prime Minister
Yulia Tymoshenko's bloc sided with the opposition Party of Regions to pass
several laws on trimming presidential powers and triggered the political
crisis.
Under Ukraine's constitution, the president can dissolve parliament
if a new governing coalition is not formed within 30 days of the previous one
collapsing.
Xinhua
|
