Ukraine president threatens to prosecute officials defying elections decree Jeannie Shawl at 3:51 PM ET
[JURIST] Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko [official website; BBC profile] said Thursday that officials who refuse to comply with his decree [statement] ordering new elections could face criminal prosecution [press release]. Yushchenko issued the decree Monday, ordering parliament dissolved and new elections in May over what Yushchenko has called "systemic violations of the constitution by the parliamentary majority." Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich [BBC profile], Yushchenko's main political rival, has refused to comply with the decree until the country's constitutional court can rule on his court appeal [JURIST report] over the president's decree. Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada [official website] has said it will withhold the funding necessary to hold elections and has also voted to fire the current Central Elections Commission of Ukraine [official website] and reinstate the previous commission. AP has more.
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