L’Ukraine appelle à des élections présidentielles anticipées[en][de] 

Ukraine held three elections in three years from 2004 to 2007 and was on the brink of another poll last year before the president rescinded an order dissolving parliament. 

Yushchenko won office in 2004 after weeks of mass "orange" protests against poll fraud, ushering in policies aimed at bringing Ukraine out of the shadow of giant neighbour Russia. 

Yanukovich was then initially declared the winner, but the result was overturned and Yushchenko won a re-run of the vote. 

Much of the infighting within the "orange" camp has focused on antagonism between Yushchenko and his estranged ally from the Revolution, Tymoshenko, twice appointed prime minister. 

Tymoshenko has repeatedly called on the president to quit. 

Yanukovich's opposition Regions Party has called for early parliamentary and presidential elections, though turnout last week for rallies against economic hardship was modest. 

It is parliament's responsibility to name the election date, but the constitution also says the president must serve for five years, so analysts predict a long legal battle. 

President Viktor Yushchenko, his popularity slipping ever lower more than four years after the 'Orange Revolution' swept him to power, denounced the move as illegal. 

The resolution, backed by a remarkable 401 deputies in the fractious 450-seat assembly, united most parties with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko against Yushchenko, her former ally-turned rival whose term runs out next year. 

Analysts said the vote was a defensive move by parliament to stop the president dissolving the chamber, which would be illegal in the last six months of his mandate. 

"What we are adopting here is not only a legal, but also a political decision," speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn told the chamber. 

Senior officials, including the speaker, had predicted an election in January 2010 at the end of Yushchenko's five-year mandate, which has been marked by continuous quarrels between the pro-Western politicians brought to power by the 2004 'orange' protests. 

"The decision is, naturally, illegal and unconstitutional," Yushchenko told reporters in central Ukraine. "It exposes the games of those who initiated it and keep playing those games." 

Legal challenge 

The president's representative in Ukraine's constitutional court predicted a legal challenge to the resolution. 

No politician has formally announced an intention to contest the next presidential election. Viktor Yanukovich, opposition leader and a former prime minister, leads polls with Tymoshenko close behind, while Yushchenko's rating is now in single figures. 

Arseniy Yatsenyuk, a former parliament speaker who now leads a political movement whose popularity is rising, said the resolution amounted to the launch of the election campaign. "The political and legal process is under way. The presidential race has started," he said on his website. 

Battered by the economic crisis, Ukraine has seen markets for its steel and chemical industries contract and its currency fall sharply in recent months. The president says the economy shrank by 25-30 percent in the first two months of 2009. 

The flow of $16.4 billion in credits pledged by the IMF has been suspended as parliament considers legislation demanded by the Fund as part of a reform programme. 

"Parliament's decision on the election date means two things - a consensus to get rid of the president as quickly as possible and a fear of a possible early parliamentary election," said Volodymyr Fesenko of the Penta think tank. 

"This is a fairly dubious decision in legal terms and many members are well aware of that. A big battle lies ahead. This is no more than a tactical manoeuvre." 

(EurActiv with Reuters.)

One of the candidates likely to run for president is Arseniy Yatsenyuk, at present leader of the liberal civic initiative 'Front of Change', a member of parliament and a former minister of foreign affairs (2007). Yatsenyuk recently met the press in Brussels and discussed various issues at length:

Will he run? 

Yatsenyuk will obviously run, but he would announce it in his country, not from abroad. On 22 May, he will have 35 years, which is the required minimum age to run for president. Yatsenyuk spoke about the political situation in the following terms: 

"The presidential race already started unofficially. The new president will need a majority in the Parliament. Otherwise, we will face the same strife as we do today. And I am not sure that this parliament is capable of doing real business with a new president […] The new president has to be politically flexible, in order to get a political consensus in the society. The issue is to find allies." 

Early parliamentary poll, too 

"As I see it, after the presidential elections we may face snap parliamentary elections. And it's going to be reasonable. But key political players need to agree right now, in order to stop this political mess. A new president has to present a clear-cut action plan, what is to be done in his five-year term. And this plan has to be backed by the majority in the new parliament." 

Ukraine and NATO 

"There is a controversy inside NATO about Ukraine. On the other side, there is no perception of the NATO idea inside Ukraine. A referendum is needed, in order to join NATO. This MAP (Membership Action Plan, the antechamber to membership) idea, if it’s so complicated for NATO, we can use a new vehicle – we can call it a special relation, or whatever, in order to boost our cooperation. And this is going to be a big challenge for the new president too. Because the NATO idea splits Ukraine, and triggers very complicated talks with Russia."

"NATO is an instrument of geopolitical influence. When Russia once said Ukraine is in the traditional sphere of influence of Russia, and I was asked to comment, I said: Russia is in the traditional sphere of influence of Ukraine too." 

Business and politics 

"There are no more tycoons [in Ukraine] after the economic crisis. I call them representatives of small and medium enterprises" 

"Parliament in Ukraine represents not the political parties, it represents different clans and different economic groups from Eastern and Western Ukraine," continued Yatsenyuk, who set out his ambition of reforming the political system. 

Analysis of the gas crisis 

"This year we accepted the highest basic price in the world. And everything will depend on the oil prices, if it goes up, we can get 600 dollars for 1,000 cubic metres. Yes, we eliminated RosUkrEnergo, but on the other hand, Gazprom was granted an access to the Ukrainian domestic market. So we substituted RosUkrEnergo with a subsidiary, which is entirely controlled by Gazprom. And the government granted 25% of the domestic market to Gazprom. And that's not right. Even more, it's illegal. The government has no power to grant the market – they do not possess the market. And the terms and conditions of this contract are very complicated." 

"We are probably going to re-write this contract in a more political manner."