Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko expressed support for a proposal for early parliamentary and presidential elections as a way of resolving the current political crisis in Ukraine but insisted that the legislation should be changed before such polls.
Yuschenko said this at a
meeting with regional mass media at his residence Syniohora in
Ivano-Frankivsk region, the presidential press service reported on
Friday.
Such a coalition could be restored through talks, he
said. However, “I am convinced that the current configuration and the
dominance of personal objectives, especially those of the leaders of
the two leading parties in the Ukrainian parliament, are leading this
idea into an impasse as well,” Yuschenko said.
“One cannot have a parliament without a majority for
a year. We have lost a year in the sense of legislative work and
political stability,” he said.
“For this reason, the reply to the question how to
find a solution is either to create a new coalition – however, I cannot
see any possibility of this though it is purely a matter for
parliamentary forces – or, secondly, early elections.”
Yuschenko confirmed he supported a proposal for simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections.
However, before that, the parliamentary election
system needs to be changed, among other things lists of candidates
should be published, he argued.
This would affect the composition of the next
parliament and minimize corruption, criminality and lobbyism in it,
Yuschenko said. He also insisted on abolishing immunity for those
running for parliament until they win parliamentary seats.
“I do support early elections if we take account of
nuances that I have spoken about, namely that such early elections
should be carried through on a new electoral basis. Then it will be a
chance to cleanse the Ukrainian parliament, above all,” Yuschenko said.
