Snap election of president, parliament unlikely - Razumkov Center

Presidential elections will put an end to the current confrontation between Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, says Oleksandr Lytvynenko, expert of the Razumkov Center's law and policy programs.

He believes early elections to be unlikely, although oppositional Party of Regions leader Viktor Yanukovych repeatedly called for a snap presidential and parliamentary election. "I do not believe in it, since there are no formal grounds for those elections, and it is also so little time left that an early election is hardly expedient," Lytvynenko noted basing on the provision that the scheduled presidential elections must take place in late January 2010.

Commenting on a fresh outburst of confrontation between the former Orange teammates, Tymoshenko and Yushchenko, during the National Security and Defense Council meeting on February 11, the expert said that the reason for the exchange of accusations was "just a stage of the election campaign, seizure of the spheres of influence both inside the country and in the international scene, in foreign trade and policy areas"

Lytvynenko also noted that in this fight "the Prime Minister is holding the lead" by the tactic of recapturing the initiative and the wish to discredit the opponent.

UKRINFORM