JURIST - Paper Chase: Ukraine leaders compromise over bill expanding cabinet power

[JURIST] Ukraine political leaders have reached a compromise in a dispute over recently passed legislation that Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko [official website; BBC profile] threatened to challenge in court after claiming that it would illegally expand the cabinet's power at the expense of the presidency. Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich [BBC profile] said Wednesday that, following a Tuesday conversation between himself, Yushchenko, and the chairman of Ukraine's parliament, the parliament will consider amendments to the cabinet law proposed by the President, if he submits the amendments prior to the upcoming parliamentary session.

In December, the parliament enacted the bill into law [JURIST report], overriding a previous presidential veto and rejecting all 42 of Yushchenko's amendments. Yushchenko then threatened to challenge the law in the country's Constitutional Court. The standoff between parliament and Yushchenko was only worsened by the fact that government leader Yanukovich is Yushchenko's political arch-rival [JURIST report], having been defeated [JURIST report] by Yushchenko in a bitter 2004 presidential election that had to be re-run after mass protests and allegations of fraud, precipitating Ukraine's so-called Orange Revolution [Wikipedia backgrounder]. Pravda has local coverage.

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