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Ukraine parliament breaks standoff with historic vote
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| Contributor | None Entered |
| Last Edited | None Entered Dec 09, 2004 07:31pm |
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| Category | News |
| News Date | Thursday, December 9, 2004 06:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Ukraine's civil workers were set to walk into their offices for the first time in weeks after opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko and outgoing President Leonid Kuchma struck a deal to end their tense standoff.
The opposition, which had been blocking government buildings ever since a contested vote on November 21 sparked the faceoff, was due to lift its blockade on Thursday after parliament passed a compromise bill to end the faceoff.
The vote was hailed in Ukraine and abroad as a breakthrough in the political crisis that has split this strategic nation in two polarized camps and fueled Cold War-like rhetoric between Russia and the West.
"After 17 days of peaceful protest, we have claimed victory," opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko told tens of thousands of supporters in Kiev's central square whose round-the-clock protests were key to the advance of his "orange revolution."
By a crushing majority of 402 to 21, deputies in the Upper Rada approved a Kuchma-backed amendment, which transfers many of the president's powers to parliament, along with electoral law changes demanded by the opposition.
The chamber erupted in applause as the result appeared on a huge electronic board on the wall and the 66-year-old Kuchma, who made a rare appearance in the chamber to urge support for his favored legislation, was among those clapping. |
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