Ukrainian Parliament Votes to Sack Government

Ukraine's parliament backed an opposition proposal to dismiss Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and replace his team with a "people's government," while thousands of chanting and singing demonstrators built human chains around official buildings and effectively paralyzed the ruling seat of power.

Meanwhile outgoing President Leonid Kuchma scrambled for a way out of the worst crisis to hit independent Ukraine by proposing fresh elections from scratch that would be open to all.

It was not clear whether the government dismissal would actually take effect, as Kuchma has a right to veto the measure. By mid-day Wednesday, he had yet to comment on the vote.

Secret ballot

The vote to oust the government passed at the second attempt through secret ballot at an unruly sitting of the assembly. Outside, tens of thousands of Yushchenko supporters followed the debate through loudspeakers, cheering wildly and embracing as the outcome was announced.

The vote amidst the standoff -- already in its tenth day -- came after the European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana spent the night talking with Kuchma in a bid to find a common strategy for resolving a leadership crisis that threatens to sink Ukraine's economy and possibly split the country in half.

The top EU negotiator and Kuchma were joined by an increasingly anxious Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski and the leader of Lithuania, both of whose countries border Ukraine, as they ironed out proposals for roundtable talks that would include the two rivals and Russia's speaker of parliament.

'People's government'

The second roundtable in five days -- the first ended only with an agreement that bloodshed should be avoided at all cost -- followed an initial announcement by the opposition that it was pulling out of talks and would move to form a "people's government."

Yushchenko had shot down two proposals floated by Yanukovych that included the opposition taking control of government and Yanukovych serving as a ceremonial head of state.

The two sides are now haggling over whether to hold a new election or to restage a runoff between the two foes. Yushchenko supports the latter option because he claims to have won the first-round vote.

Kuchma weighed in on the side of Yanukovych and called for a completely new election. "A new runoff vote is a farce, I will never support this because it's anti-constitutional," he told a government meeting called to address the growing economic implications of the wrangle.