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Rally held in Kiev to demand parliament be dissolved

More than 70,000 Ukrainians rallied in the center of Kiev to press President Viktor Yushchenko to dissolve parliament and call new elections, deepening a political feud between the president and the prime minister.

Demonstrators at Saturday's rally were unhappy with attempts by the president's chief political rival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, to expand his power base in parliament by siphoning away lawmakers from pro-Yushchenko factions -- a move that has strengthened Yanukovych's control over this ex-Soviet republic.

Earlier, Yushchenko, who did not attend the evening rally, accused Yanukovych of breaking promises he made in a power-sharing agreement and trying to amass more power by poaching lawmakers from the blocs that support the president.

Yushchenko has expressed concerns that Yanukovych could strengthen his parliamentary majority to 300 seats in the 450-seat parliament -- enough to override presidential vetoes and make changes to the Constitution.

Yushchenko threatened to dissolve the Verkhovna Rada, or Supreme Council, if the situation did not change.

"If the work of the majority is not renewed on the basis of the Constitution, I will sign the decree to dissolve parliament," Yushchenko told a conference of his party's delegates on Saturday morning, prompting wild cheers and applause.

Seeking to push him to go ahead with the threat, his political backers called supporters out into Kiev's Independence Square, which was the epicenter of the 2004 Orange Revolution protests that ushered Yushchenko into power.

About 70,000 people turned out, waving flags and banners. The demonstrators accused Yanukovych of effectively trying to revise the results of last year's parliamentary election.

"It is not the right of the president [to dissolve parliament], it is his obligation," opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko told the crowd.

The crowd shouted: "Together we will win."

Meanwhile, a smaller crowd of about 20,000 Yanukovych supporters held a rival rally nearby.

Dissolving parliament could plunge this ex-Soviet republic into a new political crisis, particularly if Yanukovych's coalition -- which denies Yushchenko's allegations and argues there is no constitutional basis for dissolving parliament -- refused to abide by the president's decision.
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