Hundreds of supporters of President Viktor Yanukovich threw a cordon around the Ukrainian parliament on Tuesday to block opposition demonstrators from coming near the building.
Tension was high after riots in parliament on April 27 in which smoke bombs were thrown and brawls broke out between Yanukovich and opposition deputies over ratification of an agreement to extend the Russian navy’s stay in Ukraine.
On Tuesday, several hundred members of the pro-Yanukovich Regions Party formed a barrier to the entrance to the parliament building, while police kept back about 3,000 supporters of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko from drawing near.
Yanukovich, in a U-turn after the anti-Russian policies of his predecessor Viktor Yushchenko, agreed on April 21 to extend the lease of the Black Sea fleet until 2042 in exchange for cheaper gas, vital for the struggling economy.
Tymoshenko, beaten by Yanukovich in a bitter election for president in February, has seized on the Black Sea fleet issue to re-invigorate the opposition against the new leadership.
“Yanukovich! Halt! Do not sell Ukraine out!” and “Let us unite for the defence of Ukraine!” read slogans hoisted aloft by supporters from Tymoshenko’s BYuT bloc and the Ukrainian nationalist Svoboda party.
“We support the actions of President Yanukovich!”, “No to the revolutionaries!” ran slogans held up by supporters of the Regions Party.
The Black Sea fleet extension was ratified on April 27 in almost siege conditions in parliament and the ex-Soviet republic is now preparing to welcome Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Kiev on an official visit on May 17.
Yanukovich draws most of his support from the industrial east and the south, and is particularly strongly backed by the mainly Russian-speaking population in Crimea where Russia’s fleet is based.
An opinion poll by the KIPU sociology centre found that 56.5 percent of Ukrainians favoured the extension of the fleet’s stay until 2047 — giving the nod to an extension of a further five years which is allowed under the April 21 Kharkiv agreement.
(Reporting by Yuri Kulikov; Writing by Richard Balmforth; Editing by Charles Dick)
Ukraine’s Yanukovich fails in move to strengthen powers
(Reuters) – Allies of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich failed on Saturday in a first attempt to push through changes to the constitution that could significantly boost his political powers in the ex-Soviet republic.
Parliament launched a debate on Friday on a proposal by Yanukovich’s Regions Party that would allow for a referendum to decide whether curbs on presidential powers, agreed in 2004, should be lifted.
Political commentators said allies of Yanukovich, who was elected last February after a bitter political campaign against former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, sought particularly to boost presidential authority over the government.
At the moment, the president can propose candidates only for foreign and defense ministers — and even they have to be accepted by parliament.
If the curbs were lifted, commentators said Yanukovich would effectively rule in a presidential system similar to that of many other former Soviet states, including Russia, with the right to name government ministers.
But when parliament met on Saturday in exceptional session several parties voiced opposition to agreeing on a referendum now. They included the Communists and the Lytvyn bloc which are part of the majority underpinning Yanukovich’s government.
Further debate on proposal was put off until September.
The present limits on presidential powers were imposed in 2004 when the pro-Western Viktor Yushchenko came to power after the “Orange Revolution” street demonstrations, and partly contributed to his downfall.
Yushchenko’s five years in power were marked by constant confrontation with parliament and with Tymoshenko, his prime minister, and he crashed to a humiliating first-round defeat when he sought re-election this year.
Since he came to power with the financial backing of key business figures, Yanukovich has gradually tightened his grip in the country, appointed close allies to key positions in the power structure and tilted foreign policy back toward Ukraine’s old Soviet master, Russia.
But he said last month that the limits on the power of the presidency had produced a crisis of authority and he urged a change in the constitution.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Writing by Richard Balmforth; Editing by Maria Golovnina)