Crisis Talks Fail to End Turmoil in Ukraine

Ukraine was on the brink of political turmoil again last night as the president, Viktor Yushchenko, agonised over whether to reject his political nemesis as prime minister and order new parliamentary elections.

Mr Yushchenko went to the wire, leaving it to the last possible day to decide whether to accept arch foe Viktor Yanukovich as premier after months of wrangling precipitated by indecisive elections in March. It looked likely he would turn his opponent down after failing to reach a compromise agreement with leaders of the main parliamentary faction over the country's future course.

However, new elections are unlikely to bring him political gain with his own party struggling in opinion polls.

Mr Yushchenko has the right to dissolve the verkhovna rada (parliament), but his rivals dispute the legality of such a move and warned yesterday they may attempt to impeach him. Svyatoslav Piskun, a deputy from Mr Yanukovich's Party of the Regions, said: "If the president takes the decision to dissolve the verkhovna rada then he will be committing a crime."

During three hours of crisis talks, Mr Yushchenko tried to impose a "national unity agreement" in exchange for accepting Mr Yanukovich as premier. The president had hoped to gain agreement that Ukraine would not be diverted from its path of European integration.

"The five leading political forces failed to reach understanding on the key priorities for national development," a downbeat Mr Yushchenko said after the talks.

Mr Yanukovich remained optimistic, saying: "There is still time to meet halfway. It is my belief that will happen."

Under recent constitutional changes, Mr Yushchenko gained the ability to dissolve the rada if a majority did not decide on a government within 60 days of its formation. But his opponents point out that that deadline was passed only because the president refused to accept the majority's nomination of Mr Yanukovich as premier.

Ukraine has been divided since rigged elections prompted the 2004 Orange revolution, when pro-western Mr Yushchenko faced off against pro-Russian, anti-Nato Mr Yanukovich.

Mr Yanukovich survived defeat during that uprising and made a comeback in March when his party gained almost a third of votes in parliamentary elections. Mr Yushchenko's Our Ukraine party was pushed into third place by the strong showing of Yulia Timoshenko, his old ally and prime minister, whom he sacked last year after a corruption scandal. Mrs Timoshenko led her bloc into the elections independently, splitting the Orange vote.

The failure of any party to win a clear majority led to months of political horse-trading and a revived Orange coalition failed in June when the Socialist bloc defected to form a new majority with Mr Yanukovich's Party of the Regions and the Communists.

Mr Yushchenko's aides predicted yesterday he would announce his final decision in a late night television appearance.

Hryhoriy Nemyria, an aide to Ms Timoshenko, expected the president to err in favour of dissolution. "There's been a big escalation from both sides but I think that's the option that would give Yushchenko most legitimacy with his supporters."