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Ukraine's parliament urges cooperation from president

Other News Materials 25 July 2006 16:28 (UTC +04:00)

(RIA Novosti) - Members of Ukraine's parliament began a session Tuesday with appeals to the president to cooperate or dissolve the Supreme Rada as the country entered a new stage of its protracted political crisis.

Under the constitution, Viktor Yushchenko can dissolve parliament and fix new elections from Tuesday, the deadline for the 450-seat assembly to form a government, which came 60 days after its first sitting, reports Trend.

But Yushchenko has so far failed to approve last Tuesday's nomination of his former presidential rival Viktor Yanukovych, whose largely pro-Russian Party of Regions leads a new coalition majority in parliament after the collapse of a West-leaning alliance.

Ivan Bokiy, leader of the Socialist faction, called on Yushchenko to cooperate with the Rada.

"I am asking the president to come to parliament and start routine work with deputies," he said.

The legislature adopted a decision to invite Yushchenko to attend a session at 4 p.m. local time (1 p.m. GMT) Tuesday, and parliamentary Speaker Oleksandr Moroz said a written invitation would be sent to the president.

The 125-seat eponymous bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko, Yushchenko's flamboyant ally in the late 2004 mass protests that brought him to power and previous premier-in-waiting in the first post-election coalition, was not present at the session. It formally withdrew from the assembly Monday in a bid to block the rival coalition's way to power.

A source in parliament also said the president planned to receive faction leaders Tuesday.

"President Yushchenko will meet with the leaders of all five parliamentary factions before lunch to decide on the formation of a government or the Rada's dissolution," the source said.

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