Kuchma will support Supreme Court directive

UKRAINE’S president Leonid Kuchma called round table talks in Kiev last night and said he would go along with a presidential run-off on December 26 as set out by the Supreme Court.

However, it is still unclear if he will sign into law the changes needed in the electoral law to ensure a fair and transparent vote as demanded by the opposition leader and candidate Viktor Yushchenko. He is also required to reform the 15-member Central Election Commission, most of whom were happy to declare the blatantly fraudulent election as fair. His spokesperson said yesterday he was willing to do so.

Moscow-backed President Kuchma has been trying to link these changes to others he wants to make that would transfer substantial powers away from the president and place them instead with the prime minister and parliament.

Since his protégé, prime minister and presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovich, appears certain to lose the election re-run, Mr Kuchma feels he can continue to hold the reins of power through the parliament in future.

The 66-year-old Soviet style ruler, who has been in power for ten years, held meetings throughout yesterday with representatives and leaders of various countries that have an interest in Ukraine’s future.

His first meeting yesterday morning was with the chairman of the Russian Duma, Boris Gryzlor, sent to Kiev by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

Later he met the Polish president, Aleksander Kwasniewski, and the Lithuanian president, Valdas Adamkus.

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, who also attended the two previous round table talks, flew into Kiev yesterday evening and the general secretary of the OSCE, Jan Kubis, left a meeting of the organisation in Sofia early to attend the talks. There are fears that Mr Kuchma will try to either disrupt or delay the election and there are concerns that he may persuade Mr Yanukovych to withdraw his candidacy days before the vote on December 26.

In the event of there being just one candidate, Mr Yushchenko would need to get 50% plus one of the votes cast. Without this there would have to a new election held in about three months time, when Mr Kuchma would hope the opposition would have run out of steam.

In a speech televised yesterday Mr Kuchma, in his first reference to the court’s decision on December 3 calling for a new run-off vote, said he would go along with this. He also said he was ready to introduce changes in the electoral law and the constitution. The Parliament is expected to sit in emergency session today.

Students and supporters of Mr Yushchenko refused to lift their blockade on all government and presidential buildings.