Ukraine Parliament To Consider Early Election Laws

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Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, is due to begin two days of meetings aimed at passing a package of bills enabling the country to hold early elections September 30.

President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych agreed on the election date early on May 27.

The move defused tensions between supporters of the two rivals and was welcomed by the European Union.

But parliament must still amend the electoral law and take other steps to permit the vote to be held.

Yushchenko has suspended his decree to dissolve parliament until May 29-30 to enable deputies to vote on the bills.

The agreement came after months of rising political tension in Ukraine, which was heightened in April when Yushchenko issued a decree to dissolve parliament and hold early elections.

Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org

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Posted May 29th, 2007 by Dinka