UKRAINE:Ukraine faces the prospect of renewed fighting between its leaders and even snap elections, less than two months after new prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko took power. Daniel McLaughlinreports.
A fractious parliament finally approved Ms Tymoshenko as premier after months of deadlock following last September's general election, in which her loose alliance with president Viktor Yushchenko ousted pro-Russian prime minister Viktor Yanukovich.
Mr Yanukovich's allies repeatedly disrupted and blocked parliamentary votes to approve Ms Tymoshenko, and have prevented the assembly from functioning properly since January.
"The countdown has begun and, in accordance with the constitution, the president has the right to dissolve parliament if plenary meetings do not take place every 30 days," said Roman Zvarytch, a spokesman for Mr Yushchenko's party.
While Mr Yushchenko is not expected to dissolve the assembly in the immediate future - a move that could trigger snap elections - the threat reveals the depth of frustration at how parliamentary squabbling has stymied the work of the fledgling government.
The president was prevented from making his state-of-the-nation speech in parliament last week when opposition politicians blocked the speaker's rostrum and unfurled banners protesting against his support for Ukrainian membership of Nato.
"If we do not reach an agreement, we will turn parliament not into a circus, but rather into a boxing ring," said speaker of the house Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
The debacle came days after interior minister Yuri Lutsenko allegedly struck the mayor of Kiev in the face after they accused each other of corruption during a meeting of the National Security Council.
Fears of a descent into political chaos were heightened this week by Mr Yushchenko's angry response to Ms Tymoshenko's sacking of the head of Ukraine's privatisation agency.
Their clash recalled the rows between the two leaders that led to the president dismissing Ms Tymoshenko as premier in 2005, just months after the Orange Revolution brought them to power and annulled Mr Yanukovich's fraudulent election "victory".
Ms Tymoshenko and Mr Yushchenko often criticised State Property Fund chief Valentyna Semenyuk, but the president insisted that his premier should have had her dismissal approved by parliament, and threatened to rescind the order.
"This is not an issue of personalities. The removal of Semenyuk violates the constitution," Mr Yushchenko said. "Changes at the head of the fund clearly amount to lawlessness."