Ukraine president sets date for snap elections
Voters in Ukraine to elect new government in December after president Viktor Yushchenko sets date for snap elections
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Thursday, 09, Oct 2008 09:10
Voters in Ukraine will elect a new government in December after president Viktor Yushchenko set a date for snap elections.
Mr Yushchenko announced on his website that the polls would be held on December 7th.
He officially dissolved parliament this week after the ruling coalition collapsed when he withdrew his party, citing differences with prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
Ms Tymoshenko, who was a key ally of the president during the Orange Revolution which originally brought him to power, had threatened to oppose the dissolution of parliament.
Observers have said that Mr Yushchenko pulled his party out to effectively force Ms Tymoshenko out of the prime minister's office, albeit for only a couple of months.
He has already accused "one person" of being responsible for the government's collapse after Ms Tymoshenko temporarily aligned herself with the pro-Moscow opposition in a bid to limit the president's powers.
"In this state of affairs, when parliamentary forces have cornered themselves, the Ukrainian people have to have their say," Mr Yushchenko, who controversially backed Georgia in its conflict with Russia, said.
The December polls will be the third parliamentary election in Ukraine in as many years.