New date for Ukraine poll angers PM

UKRAINE:Ukraine's prime minister accused its president yesterday of reneging on a deal that could have ended the country's political crisis, by rescheduling controversial snap elections.

President Viktor Yushchenko announced late on Wednesday that a ballot would be held on June 24th, nullifying a previous order to stage the vote in May, which premier Viktor Yanukovich had hoped to see overturned by the constitutional court.

Analysts said the president's surprise move seemed to be a way of appearing to grant a concession to Mr Yanukovich - who had called for a postponement of the vote - while also obviating the risk of his previous call for elections being ruled illegal.

The earlier decree "is no longer in force", said Volodymyr Shapoval, Mr Yushchenko's representative at the constitutional court.

"This means that, in our opinion, there is no basis for continuing consideration before the court."

Raisa Bohatyrova, a leading ally of Mr Yanukovich, responded: "Today, the actions of the constitutional court were attacked to make it impossible to rule on the [ first] decree."

The president announced the new election date in a televised address to the nation in which he called a new poll the "sole way to instil a measure of responsibility in Ukrainian politicians before each one of you".

The address seemed to catch Mr Yanukovich entirely off-guard, after he had predicted the negotiation of a possible compromise deal sometime this week.

"This decree astonished me, as did the first one. This undermines all agreements which were worked out after the first decree," Mr Yanukovich said, as he cut short a trip to Uzbekistan and dashed back to Kiev.

"Such actions do not engender respect and do not give hope for the future," he warned, adding that he wanted to "look the president in the eye" before deciding his next move.

Mr Yushchenko says new elections are vital because Mr Yanukovich and his allies have illegally poached members of parliament from other parties in a bid to gain enough seats to change the constitution and overrule and even impeach the president.

Mr Yanukovich - who is closer to Russia and cooler towards the European Union and Nato than his rival - accuses the president of trying to usurp the legislature and boost his own power.