KIEV, January 12 (RIA Novosti) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko demanded Thursday that the country's parliament rescind a resolution to dismiss the government.
Parliament's move had been "unconstitutional," Yushchenko said. "The country has a legitimate government centrally as well as locally," he said.
The Supreme Rada made a decision Tuesday to dismiss the government over the gas agreements signed with Russia on January 4, 2006, which critics said were economically damaging to Ukraine, and ceded too much leverage to Moscow.
The Ukrainian president also said the Yekhanurov government would perform its duties until the formation of a new cabinet of ministers, to be named after parliamentary elections in March 2006. Yushchenko said he had signed a letter to the heads of regional administrations with instructions on how to carry out their work in the wake of Tuesday's vote.
The acting government should have a clearly defined policy program, Yushchenko said. And it needed to come to an understanding with parliament, he added, given important bills to be passed by the Supreme Rada, including 11 bills required for Ukraine to join the World Trade Organization.
