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Ukraine rivals remain in standoff

POSTED: 5:41 a.m. EDT, April 4, 2007

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KIEV, Ukraine (AP) -- President Viktor Yushchenko stood by his order dissolving Ukraine's parliament and calling for early elections and appealed for support from foreign ambassadors, law enforcement officials and governors, as his standoff with the prime minister escalated.

The president's refusal to back down Tuesday raised the stakes for Premier Viktor Yanukovych, who has said he would not accept the dissolution order.

Yanukovych's backers marshaled thousands of supporters in the capital, Kiev, waving blue-and-white flags and the red flags of his Communist coalition partners, and setting up a tent camp near the parliament building. On Independence Square hundreds of orange flag-waving Yushchenko's supporters rallied.

The two political leaders, whose rivalry dates to the 2004 Orange Revolution, met in Yushchenko's office for talks that stretched over four hours. At their start, Yushchenko told Yanukovych that "according to the constitution, a presidential order must be fulfilled." Yanukovych sat opposite the president at a small oval table, looking glum.

The meeting ended after four hours without a statement to the media.

The crisis, which has been building for months, is the most serious since the Orange Revolution and followed the breakdown Monday of an awkward power-sharing agreement between the pro-Western president and the prime minister, supported by Russia.

Under that pact, reached in August, Yushchenko accepted Yanukovych's return as prime minister in exchange for guarantees he would support the president's domestic and foreign policies. Yushchenko has since accused Yanukovych of violating that agreement.

The United States and Russia appealed for calm in this nation of 47 million that finds itself caught between its historic ties to Russia and its aspirations to move closer to Europe.

Although Yushchenko and Yanukovych differ over whether Ukraine should join NATO or more closely tie its fate to Russia, much of the wrangling has been widely viewed as efforts by their financial backers and behind-the-scene power-brokers to protect business interests.

Several business clans are known to be vying for influence over lucrative enterprises -- for example, ventures connected to the country's natural gas transport system.

There was little tension in the capital and no noticeable increase in the number of police. The president's supporters -- who held a big demonstration over the weekend to demand the dissolution of parliament -- said late Tuesday they had no plans to organize new rallies.

By evening, several hundred Yushchenko supporters had moved onto Independence Square to erect about 30 tents and listen to bands, evoking memories of the 2004 protests, when thousands of Yushchenko's supporters created a tent city that stretched from the square down the city's main boulevard.

In those protests, demonstrators camped for weeks until the Supreme Court ruled that Yanukovych's election victory was fraudulent and nullified the vote. Yushchenko, who was disfigured by dioxin poisoning during the campaign, won a repeat vote. The mystery of how he was poisoned has never been solved.

Power struggle

Yanukovych refused to fade into political obscurity, staging a remarkable comeback last year, when his party won the largest share in parliamentary voting. In August, he put together a coalition that forced the president to name him prime minister, and he has expanded his coalition by persuading lawmakers from pro-presidential factions to defect.

Last month 11 lawmakers joined the ruling coalition, moving it closer to a 300-seat, super majority in the Verkhovna Rada that would be veto-proof and could allow Yanukovych's allies to change the constitution.

Yushchenko called the defections "a revision of the voter's will," and illegal, saying the law permits only blocs, not individual lawmakers, to switch sides.

In the almost eight months the president and prime minister have shared power, their rivalry has remained sharp-edged. They've surrounded themselves with aides and allies who despise their counterparts in the rival camp.

Yushchenko called for elections to be held May 27. But speaking before parliament, which has refused to disperse, Yanukovych urged the president to return to negotiations. Yanukovych's party also vowed to ask the Constitutional Court to rule on the legality of the dissolution order.

Also Tuesday, Yushchenko met with police officials and military leaders, warning them that their "key mission is to stay out of politics." He also won the support of all of the country's 24 governors.

Russia has offered to help mediate, but both Yushchenko and Yanukovych seemed more interested in help from Europe. Yushchenko met with the ambassadors of the Group of Eight industrial nations, and Yanukovych's party appealed to the Council of Europe.

Russia was widely criticized for its strong support of Yanukovych in the 2004 elections, and Yanukovych has tried hard to dispel suspicions that he serves as the Kremlin's surrogate.

Polls suggest that if parliamentary elections were held today, the leading parties would be Yanukovych's party and the bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko, who was dismissed as Yushchenko's first prime minister in 2005 after a disagreement.

Yushchenko's party would finish a distant third, polls suggest.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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