After Western-leaning President Viktor Yushchenko, who has been embroiled in a standoff with the premier, decreed Monday that parliament be dissolved and early elections be scheduled for late May, the parliament refused to obey and referred the decree to the Constitutional Court. The situation left Court Chairman Ivan Dombrovskiy, who was appointed in August, caught between the two conflicting sides.
"A letter of resignation was, indeed, written, but the judges have turned it down," the source said ending a daylong controversy over the resignation. "Dombrovskiy continues performing his duties, and has been doing so all day."
Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, who is also the leader of the Party of Regions that dominates the Supreme Rada, had anticipated the events by saying earlier in the day that the court chairman could hand in his resignation.
"I have learned that the chairman of the Constitutional Court has been under pressure. As far as I know he will tender his resignation today," Yanukovych said.
The opposition bloc of Yushchenko's ally Yulia Tymoshenko called on the president to protect Dombrovskiy against "the impudent, rude and illegal pressure" from the premier and the parliamentary speaker, calling it "political terror."
The latest twist in the simmering political crisis in the former Soviet nation of 47 million was triggered after 11 members of Tymoshenko's and pro-presidential Our Ukraine blocs defected to the majority coalition March 23.
Yushchenko, whose powers were drastically curtailed by a Cabinet law early this year, said the defections were against the Constitution. Yanukovych promised to revise the law on the Cabinet if the president backtracked on his decree.
Political speculation continued as the Party of Regions said Yushchenko was also preparing to dismiss the government, which had allowed the Supreme Rada to continue working despite the presidential order.
"The Ukrainian president intends to dismiss the Cabinet of Yanukovych and take over executive powers," Volodymyr Sivkovych of the Party of Regions said quoting sources in the presidential secretariat.
"The decree would indicate that the president intends to usurp power and establish a presidential dictatorship in the country," Sivkovych said, adding that no democratic elections could therefore be expected.
In addition to these accusations, the Supreme Rada, which gathered for an emergency session, also passed a resolution accusing Yushchenko of an attempted coup.
"The presidential decree to dissolve the Supreme Rada of Ukraine is unconstitutional," lawmakers said. "The head of state made the decision without consulting the Constitution and abused his office, attempting to stage a coup."
Parliament cited Article 90 of the Constitution, which allows the president to disband parliament for failure to form a coalition within a month following elections in order to protect the rights of voters.
The president's representative in the Constitutional Court, Volodymyr Shapoval, moved to defend Yushchenko and said the presidential decree was in line with the Constitution, adding that subsequent parliamentary decisions were illegal.
Several thousand supporters of the ruling coalition, which also comprises the Communists and Socialists, rallied in central Kiev Wednesday. Several hundred reportedly plan to stay in a tent camp until the Constitutional Court rules on the presidential decree.
Tymoshenko, Yushchenko's flamboyant "orange revolution" ally, has called off supporters following weekend rallies, saying political differences would be settled through fresh elections May 27. But Ukraine's finance minister warned the country could not afford more elections.
"If millionaires from the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc have spare money, let them finance the election," Nikolai Azarov said, adding the president should name the sources from which he would allocate the $138 million required for the campaign.
He also spoke of possible economic damage from political instability, which has persisted since the March 2006 elections that failed to produce a clear leader able to form a government, prompting an uneasy power-sharing deal.
The presidential Web Site said Yushchenko, who enjoys the support of the army, would convene an urgent Security Council session at noon Thursday in view of the current political impasse.
Parliament also overturned another presidential decree allowing foreign troops to participate in multinational military exercises in the country in 2007.
The bill envisions the participation of four Russian aircraft in upcoming five-day bilateral air defense exercises, along with 270 Belgian troops with weapons and military hardware for 20 days in May-July in bilateral tactical exercises.
The bill sponsored by the president, who has been pushing his country toward integration with NATO and the European Union, also permits the presence of foreign troops on Ukrainian territory during the Rapid Trident, the Sea Breeze and the Combined Effort exercises this year.
In 2006, Ukraine's parliament banned foreign troops from participating in military exercises in the country and the Defense Ministry had to cancel several joint exercises with the United States and NATO following mass protests.
