Standoff Continues Over Ukraine Vote

Opposition politicians armed with sirens and megaphones blocked all action in Ukraine’s parliament Friday for the fourth straight day in a tense standoff over constitutional reforms that would phase out general elections for the post of president and instead charge parliament with selecting a head of state.

Calling the proposal an attempt by Ukraine’s ruling powers to hold on to control of the country, opposition leaders physically blocked access to the rostrum in parliament and threatened to launch public protests over the reform measure, adopted by voice vote this week.

A second vote is scheduled in the spring on a constitutional amendment to implement the changes.

“We will continue this standoff indefinitely. We don’t rule out that this struggle may go out into the streets, and then the Georgian variant of events may become inevitable,” said opposition legislator Andrei Shkil, referring to the nonviolent popular protests in neighboring Georgia in November, which succeeded in unseating President Eduard A. Shevardnadze.

“They may call this political reform, but we call it an anti-constitutional coup,” Shkil said in a telephone interview. “This reform deprives people of their inalienable right to elect the country’s president.”

The proposed reforms, proponents say, would transfer more power to the parliament and would put Ukraine in line with many European countries whose presidents also are designated by the legislative branch.

“Right now, most political and economic power is concentrated in the hands of the president, whereas the parliament has very little leverage,” said legislator Stepan Grish, coordinator of the pro-government parliament majority. “We want to change this system, and we think this is what the country needs to continue its democratic development.”

The standoff comes as Ukraine’s unpopular president, Leonid D. Kuchma, nears the end of his second term. He is barred by law from running again in October, but analysts say the proposed reforms would make it easier for Kuchma to handpick a successor or even secure a post for himself as prime minister or speaker of the parliament.

In any case, they say, the ruling majority in parliament that has backed Kuchma would be ensured a virtually seamless lock on power.

“Everyone understands that the main driving force behind this is not the need to change the constitution, but to either prolong their stay in power or to assure control over the next authorities, or simply limit the chances of anyone who can become a threat to them,” said Anatoly Grytsenko, president of the Ukrainian Center for Economic and Political Studies in Kiev, the capital.

The proposed amendments, adopted Wednesday on a voice vote by 276 of the 450 lawmakers, would allow the general elections to proceed as scheduled in October, but would limit the victor to a two-year term. Beginning in 2006, the parliament would select presidents who would serve five-year terms.

Under this scenario, analysts say, it is likely that popular opposition politician Viktor Yushchenko, a former prime minister, would win the popular elections but would be allowed to serve only 18 months.

Yushchenko is seen as a pro-Western candidate who would move to accelerate Ukraine’s admission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union.

The ruling coalition in parliament has not coalesced around a single potential successor to Kuchma -- each of Ukraine’s powerful oligarch clans has its own favorite -- but appears united on the concept of transferring power from the presidency to the parliament. The changes adopted Wednesday will be implemented if they win the approval of a two-thirds majority in parliament in the second vote scheduled in the spring.

Opponents say the issue should be submitted to the voters in a national referendum.

“We are ready for a compromise decision, and we are ready to consider submitting the document to a popular vote, but only after we pass it through parliament,” said Grish, the pro-government legislator. “But it looks as if they don’t want compromises. They want to take it out to the streets. They are threatening us with a Georgia situation. What they want to plunge the country into is very dangerous not only for Ukraine, but for all of Europe.”

Opposition leaders say the voice vote is illegal and contend that only about 200 lawmakers raised their hands. “We have photos of this vote to prove our point. There were deputies who voted with both hands in the air. And we can prove that,” Shkil said.

Once it was clear Friday that opposition lawmakers again were blocking access to the rostrum, majority leaders announced that they would not attempt to convene a session and would not resume work until Jan. 12, after the New Year holidays.

Times staff writer Sergei L. Loiko contributed to this report.