Viktor Yushchenko signed the new decree shortly before the Constitutional Court was expected to rule on his previous order of April 2, which set early elections for May 27. The president said he put off the election date because the government had failed to complete the arrangements for the May elections on time.
"In view of the lack of legal grounds for dissolving the Supreme Rada and calling early parliamentary elections, Ukraine's Supreme Rada rules that the presidential decree of April 26, 2007 ...is unlawful," lawmakers said in the resolution.
The president's representative in court, Volodymyr Shapoval, said the Constitutional Court had no more legal reasons to consider Yushchenko's decree of April 2. "There are absolutely no grounds for further consideration in the Constitutional Court," Shapoval said.
In response to the decree, the ruling coalition, led by the premier, the president's arch rival, banned financing for the elections and said it would refer the new document to the Constitutional Court, like it did with the first decree. Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych has interrupted his visit to Uzbekistan and is flying back to Ukraine.
The ruling coalition and Yanukovych refused to obey the first presidential decree and appealed to the Constitutional Court, which began considering the issue April 17 and was expected to decide the matter within 10 days.
Yushchenko's first decree, which he signed after 11 opposition members defected to the ruling coalition in late March, plunged the country into political turmoil and sparked mass protests in the capital, Kiev.
