22/02/2014 14:29
Ukraine parliament considers President's ouster, early vote
Opposition figures in Ukraine signaled their intent Saturday to seek the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych in parliament and call elections by the end of May as the government showed signs of total capitulation following days of bloody protests, RIA Novosti reported.
After midday Saturday, as the legislature was convening, Yanukovych loyalist and parliament speaker Volodymyr Rybak announced his resignation, citing ill-health. The decision came on the heels of the resignation of dozens of deputies from the ruling Party of Regions.
Speaking in the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, UDAR party leader Vitali Klitschko said deputies should consider a resolution requiring the president to resign and for the holding of elections before May 25.
As rumors abounded about Yanukovych’s whereabouts – some reports suggested he had left Kiev for the city of Kharkiv in the ethnic Russian-dominated east, where his main support base is located – anti-government crowds freely milled around the district housing the main government buildings.
Developments on Saturday came a day after parliament granted a key opposition by restoring the 2004 constitution, designed to limit presidential powers and make Ukraine a parliamentary republic. A deal overseen by EU envoys and Kremlin-appointed mediator stated that an interim government should be formed in the coming days.
The agreement between the government and the opposition coincided with the withdrawal of riot police from an area in downtown Kiev where most government buildings are located, including the parliament, the Cabinet of ministers and the presidential administration.
The street violence seen in Ukraine’s capital this week is the worst the nation has seen since it gained independence in 1991.