Well, pretty much as expected, Ukraine’s parliament was dissolved this evening, and early elections were called for 27 May.
After more than 70,000 protesters turned out in Kiev over the weekend, demanding that he do exactly that, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. In truth, given that level of pressure, I can’t think of much else he could do.
Although, as I said previously, I’m not certain its an election he can actually win.
If it even gets to an election, that is… the speaker of Parliament has already called Yushchenko’s move unconstitutional so, in tandem with the election preparations, expect a big legal fight in the coming weeks.
Oh, and one other piece of news. Yushchenko had to telephone Russian President Putin to tell him of the news. Apparently, Yushchenko was due to visit Moscow on Tuesday, but had to send his apologies. What I wouldn’t give to have been able to eavesdrop on that conversation…
{ 1 comment }
Blair Sheridan 04.03.07 at 11:18 am
Yushchenko’s rating is very, very low. On the other hand, he may have gained some measure of respect by dismissing the Rada, inasmuch as it’s the first tough decision he’s been seen to make since 2005.
Comments on this entry are closed.