Ukrainian government brought down, but compromise reached

Ukraine’s opposition brought down the government today, and opposition leader, Viktor Yuschenko, signed a compromise deal that obliges his supporters to immediately lift their siege of government buildings.

According to the agreement – signed by Yushchenko, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, outgoing President Leonid Kuchma and European envoys – the blockade that has paralysed the government must be lifted immediately.

Yushchenko, claiming widespread fraud, has refused to recognise official results that declared Yanukovych the winner of last month’s presidential election.

Tonight he called for a new vote on December 19.

Hundreds of thousands of Yushchenko’s supporters have flooded Kiev’s streets to demand the cancellation of the official results and laid siege to the government buildings, paralysing the government.

It was not immediately clear whether the agreement extended to massive protests in Kiev’s central square, or just to the area around government buildings.

Yushchenko, Yanukovych and other participants in the talks also emphasised the need to prevent any actions that could split the country. Yanukovych’s supporters in the east have called for regional autonomy, sparking fears of Ukraine’s break-up.

The agreement also calls for talks on changes in Ukrainian law in a bid to end the election crisis.

Participants in the talks emphasised the need to avoid the use of force and said the next round of talks would be held after the Supreme Court rules on the opposition’s appeal against the official vote results.

Earlier today, Ukraine’s parliament voted to bring down Yanukovych’s government, pushing through a no-confidence measure as the two presidential contenders met international mediators to seek a way out of the spiralling political crisis.

The vote came after outgoing President Leonid Kuchma announced he supported holding an entire new presidential election as a way out of the dispute – not just a revote of the contested run-off between Yanukovych and opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko.

With the Supreme Court meeting for a third day to consider Yushchenko’s appeal against the result, the prime minister struck back by filing his own complaint, seeking to have the court invalidate results in several districts won by Yushchenko, justices said.

It was unclear whether the court would hear Yanukovych’s appeal.

Yanukovych and Yushchenko met today for compromise talks attended by Kuchma, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, the secretary general of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Jan Kubis, and Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus.

Kuchma called the no-confidence vote “parliament’s answer to the worsening political situation in Ukraine”, said his spokeswoman, Olena Hromnitska. She said the president “will act within the framework of the constitution”.

A no-confidence vote automatically triggers the resignation of the government, which the president must accept – though he can allow it to continue to exercise its powers for up to 60 days, until a new cabinet is formed.

However, some experts questioned the constitutionality of the vote, and Yanukovych called it a “political move that contradicted the law”. He refused to recognise it and said he would keep working.

Earlier, Kuchma – who has backed Yanukovych as his favoured successor - announced he supported holding an entire new presidential election rather than just a repetition of the runoff.

“Where in the world do they have a third round of elections? A revote – it’s a farce,” Kuchma said at a government meeting. “I never supported it because it is unconstitutional.”

Kuchma’s proposal for fresh elections appeared aimed to buy the government time in the face of mass protests by Yushchenko supporters that have paralysed the capital for 10 days and blocked government business.

It also opened the possibility of bringing new candidates into the race - which the government has appeared to favour and the opposition fiercely opposes.

Yushchenko has led the opposition for years and was long seen as its candidate in a country where millions are yearning for change after Kuchma’s 10-year rule. Kuchma anointed Yanukovych as his favoured successor last spring, hoping his prominence as prime minister would attract votes.

Meanwhile, the regional parliament in Yanukovych’s eastern home region of Donetsk decided to hold a referendum on January 9 seeking a measure of autonomy from central government – a move that could transform Ukraine into a federation, strengthening the regions at the expense of the central government.