This place if eff'd as well.... the bottom line is, what ever the outcome, corrupt politicians will benefit and the people will continue to struggle and suffer.
I've also heard from an inside line that the boarders are closed, anyone have any info. to substantiate that claim?
http://today.reuters.com/news/artic...=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage3
KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's prime minister on Wednesday vowed to boycott the campaign for an election called by the country's increasingly unpopular president as rival demonstrators took to the streets of the capital.
Pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko this week brought to a head months of confrontation with his prime minister, Viktor Yanukovich, over Ukraine's future direction, dissolving the parliament backing Yanukovich and calling a May 27 election.
Yushchenko's stock has dwindled in the 2-1/2 years since the "Orange Revolution", when many had hoped that the impoverished former Soviet state could join the European Union and improve its meager standard of living.
Under Ukrainian law, the election campaign opened on Wednesday. But Yanukovich, defeated by the president in 2004 after weeks of "orange" protests, vowed he would have nothing to do with it until the Constitutional Court ruled on the presidential decree.
Hundreds of Yanukovich's supporters marched to the president's offices to confront those backing Yushchenko. Separated by a line of police, the two sides traded slogans; "Yushchenko out" competing with "We are for justice", from the president's supporters.
Yanukovich told ministers: "Until the Constitutional Court examines this issue, we will engage in no preparations for any elections."
"Given that the country is in such a tense situation, we must ensure that state institutions function ... and cut short any action, or indeed any talk, of an early election.
The prime minister's allies in parliament have asked the court to rule on the decree's legality. No ruling can be expected from the court for at least a month.
Yushchenko said parliament had become "illegitimate" after several deputies switched parties and the assembly now had to be dissolved as it no longer reflected voters' wishes.
Yushchenko has seen his authority and popularity, once regarded as assured due to his role in the revolution, fade.
His declining fortunes have boosted Yanukovich, who has poached members from the president's party and gained new supporters across the country with his no-nonsense attitude.
Analysts say Yushchenko, who hoped to modernize Ukraine's economy and bring the country more in line with Western values, has acted to stop Yanukovich getting enough backers in parliament to directly challenge his power.
ORANGE OPTIMISM FADES
Many on the capital's streets said they were tired of political fighting and wanted no re-run of the revolution.
"I think there will be elections because if they don't happen people will just start fighting. Someone has to give way, there has to be a compromise," said Gennady, an IT specialist
Thousands have taken to the streets since the president dissolved parliament on Monday. Protesters have organized tent camps and staged rallies but they are a shadow of the vast crowds that thronged Kiev in 2004.
Yushchenko's election victory had prompted hopes among liberals that Ukraine, a country of 47 million people lying between former imperial master Russia and the European Union, could join the EU and NATO and raise living standards.
But those aspirations have been whittled away and, compounded by rows in the president's team, have disillusioned many. The country remains poor by European standards, with average monthly wages stand about $150.
Addressing Western ambassadors in Kiev, Yanukovich repeated a call for talks to end the standoff.
"We should extend a hand to each other," he said. "The question of an early election should be removed from the agenda. People do not want a new election. But we are not afraid of an election. We are certain of victory."
____________________________________________________
What ever happens, my Mother in law's salary will still be $100/month (which she hasn't been paid for the last 5 months), and we'll still end up helpin' her out...
Anyway, here's another article
http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/news/world/20070404-Political-Crisis-Ukraine.html
KIEV, April 4, 2007 (AFP) - Political turmoil raged on in Ukraine Wednesday as President Viktor Yushchenko pressed ahead with plans to dissolve parliament and hold early elections while his opponents took to the streets in protest.
Hundreds of anti-Yushchenko activists camped out overnight in the centre of the Ukrainian capital and protest organisers said several thousand more would gather for a rally on Independence Square.
"Yushchenko's got to revoke his order... He's not the president of a nation any more, he's the president of a minority," said Yury, a 52-year-old protester who arrived from the eastern province of Kharkov in the night.
The parliament and government of Ukraine have voted to defy Yushchenko's order to dissolve parliament and hold snap elections, issued on Monday amid a months-long power struggle with his prime minister Viktor Yanukovych.
Yushchenko hit back at his critics on Wednesday in an article in the Financial Times, saying the political crisis needed a "firm and immediate response" and accusing the parliamentary majority of abusing the constitution.
Crisis talks between Yushchenko and Yanukovych on Tuesday failed to yield a compromise and the president's office later said Yushchenko was standing by his ruling and preparing for the elections.
Yanukovych, who favours ties with Russia, said on Tuesday that pro-Western Yushchenko had made "a fatal mistake" and threatened him with early presidential elections unless he rescinded the ruling.
Yushchenko and Yanukovych faced off as presidential candidates in 2004 -- a duel won by Yushchenko after the mass protests of the Orange Revolution against Yanukovych's rigged election victory.
The current stand-off between Yanukovych and Yushchenko has been sharpened by constitutional reforms last year that strengthened parliament at the expense of the presidency.
Analysts said Yushchenko issued his dissolution order in order to prevent the Yanukovych's parliamentary coalition from building up a constitutional majority that could further weaken his powers.
The growing political turmoil in this former Soviet republic prompted expressions of concern from the European Union, Russia and the United States -- with all three calling for a peaceful resolution to the crisis.
Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his Estonian counterpart Toomas Hendrik Ilves meanwhile voiced support for pro-Western political forces in Ukraine after talks in Warsaw.
Although favouring Yanukovych this time and on a smaller scale, the protests in Kiev this week were reminiscent of the Orange Revolution, which distanced Kiev from Moscow for the first time in the post-Soviet era.
Yushchenko's rise and his ambitions for NATO membership raised anxieties in Russia that Western capitals would hold sway over a traditional ally in Moscow's former empire.
The stand-off between Yushchenko and Yanukovych also reflects deep divisions between Ukraine's predominantly Russian-speaking industrial east and the Ukrainian-speaking west.
"We Will Defend the Unity of Ukraine!" and "No to the Division of Ukraine!" read some of the placards posted up by anti-Yushchenko activists at their tent camp outside the parliament building in Kiev.
But many Ukrainians also expressed weariness after months of political crisis following the parliamentary elections last year that brought Yanukovych to the prime minister's post.
"Elections and more elections. That's enough! People should do some work around here instead of protesting all the time," said Ilya Ledovskvoi, a 29-year-old Kiev taxi driver.
Ledovskvoi, who said he had voted for Yushchenko, echoed growing disenchantment with the president, seen as failing to live up to economic promises and needlessly antagonising Ukraine's giant neighbour Russia.
I've also heard from an inside line that the boarders are closed, anyone have any info. to substantiate that claim?
http://today.reuters.com/news/artic...=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage3
KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's prime minister on Wednesday vowed to boycott the campaign for an election called by the country's increasingly unpopular president as rival demonstrators took to the streets of the capital.
Pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko this week brought to a head months of confrontation with his prime minister, Viktor Yanukovich, over Ukraine's future direction, dissolving the parliament backing Yanukovich and calling a May 27 election.
Yushchenko's stock has dwindled in the 2-1/2 years since the "Orange Revolution", when many had hoped that the impoverished former Soviet state could join the European Union and improve its meager standard of living.
Under Ukrainian law, the election campaign opened on Wednesday. But Yanukovich, defeated by the president in 2004 after weeks of "orange" protests, vowed he would have nothing to do with it until the Constitutional Court ruled on the presidential decree.
Hundreds of Yanukovich's supporters marched to the president's offices to confront those backing Yushchenko. Separated by a line of police, the two sides traded slogans; "Yushchenko out" competing with "We are for justice", from the president's supporters.
Yanukovich told ministers: "Until the Constitutional Court examines this issue, we will engage in no preparations for any elections."
"Given that the country is in such a tense situation, we must ensure that state institutions function ... and cut short any action, or indeed any talk, of an early election.
The prime minister's allies in parliament have asked the court to rule on the decree's legality. No ruling can be expected from the court for at least a month.
Yushchenko said parliament had become "illegitimate" after several deputies switched parties and the assembly now had to be dissolved as it no longer reflected voters' wishes.
Yushchenko has seen his authority and popularity, once regarded as assured due to his role in the revolution, fade.
His declining fortunes have boosted Yanukovich, who has poached members from the president's party and gained new supporters across the country with his no-nonsense attitude.
Analysts say Yushchenko, who hoped to modernize Ukraine's economy and bring the country more in line with Western values, has acted to stop Yanukovich getting enough backers in parliament to directly challenge his power.
ORANGE OPTIMISM FADES
Many on the capital's streets said they were tired of political fighting and wanted no re-run of the revolution.
"I think there will be elections because if they don't happen people will just start fighting. Someone has to give way, there has to be a compromise," said Gennady, an IT specialist
Thousands have taken to the streets since the president dissolved parliament on Monday. Protesters have organized tent camps and staged rallies but they are a shadow of the vast crowds that thronged Kiev in 2004.
Yushchenko's election victory had prompted hopes among liberals that Ukraine, a country of 47 million people lying between former imperial master Russia and the European Union, could join the EU and NATO and raise living standards.
But those aspirations have been whittled away and, compounded by rows in the president's team, have disillusioned many. The country remains poor by European standards, with average monthly wages stand about $150.
Addressing Western ambassadors in Kiev, Yanukovich repeated a call for talks to end the standoff.
"We should extend a hand to each other," he said. "The question of an early election should be removed from the agenda. People do not want a new election. But we are not afraid of an election. We are certain of victory."
____________________________________________________
What ever happens, my Mother in law's salary will still be $100/month (which she hasn't been paid for the last 5 months), and we'll still end up helpin' her out...
Anyway, here's another article
http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/news/world/20070404-Political-Crisis-Ukraine.html
KIEV, April 4, 2007 (AFP) - Political turmoil raged on in Ukraine Wednesday as President Viktor Yushchenko pressed ahead with plans to dissolve parliament and hold early elections while his opponents took to the streets in protest.
Hundreds of anti-Yushchenko activists camped out overnight in the centre of the Ukrainian capital and protest organisers said several thousand more would gather for a rally on Independence Square.
"Yushchenko's got to revoke his order... He's not the president of a nation any more, he's the president of a minority," said Yury, a 52-year-old protester who arrived from the eastern province of Kharkov in the night.
The parliament and government of Ukraine have voted to defy Yushchenko's order to dissolve parliament and hold snap elections, issued on Monday amid a months-long power struggle with his prime minister Viktor Yanukovych.
Yushchenko hit back at his critics on Wednesday in an article in the Financial Times, saying the political crisis needed a "firm and immediate response" and accusing the parliamentary majority of abusing the constitution.
Crisis talks between Yushchenko and Yanukovych on Tuesday failed to yield a compromise and the president's office later said Yushchenko was standing by his ruling and preparing for the elections.
Yanukovych, who favours ties with Russia, said on Tuesday that pro-Western Yushchenko had made "a fatal mistake" and threatened him with early presidential elections unless he rescinded the ruling.
Yushchenko and Yanukovych faced off as presidential candidates in 2004 -- a duel won by Yushchenko after the mass protests of the Orange Revolution against Yanukovych's rigged election victory.
The current stand-off between Yanukovych and Yushchenko has been sharpened by constitutional reforms last year that strengthened parliament at the expense of the presidency.
Analysts said Yushchenko issued his dissolution order in order to prevent the Yanukovych's parliamentary coalition from building up a constitutional majority that could further weaken his powers.
The growing political turmoil in this former Soviet republic prompted expressions of concern from the European Union, Russia and the United States -- with all three calling for a peaceful resolution to the crisis.
Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his Estonian counterpart Toomas Hendrik Ilves meanwhile voiced support for pro-Western political forces in Ukraine after talks in Warsaw.
Although favouring Yanukovych this time and on a smaller scale, the protests in Kiev this week were reminiscent of the Orange Revolution, which distanced Kiev from Moscow for the first time in the post-Soviet era.
Yushchenko's rise and his ambitions for NATO membership raised anxieties in Russia that Western capitals would hold sway over a traditional ally in Moscow's former empire.
The stand-off between Yushchenko and Yanukovych also reflects deep divisions between Ukraine's predominantly Russian-speaking industrial east and the Ukrainian-speaking west.
"We Will Defend the Unity of Ukraine!" and "No to the Division of Ukraine!" read some of the placards posted up by anti-Yushchenko activists at their tent camp outside the parliament building in Kiev.
But many Ukrainians also expressed weariness after months of political crisis following the parliamentary elections last year that brought Yanukovych to the prime minister's post.
"Elections and more elections. That's enough! People should do some work around here instead of protesting all the time," said Ilya Ledovskvoi, a 29-year-old Kiev taxi driver.
Ledovskvoi, who said he had voted for Yushchenko, echoed growing disenchantment with the president, seen as failing to live up to economic promises and needlessly antagonising Ukraine's giant neighbour Russia.
