Ukrainian lawmakers vote to oust President Yanukovych
Iran Press TV
Sat Feb 22, 2014 6:19PM GMT
Ukraine parliament has voted to remove President Viktor Yanukovych from power only hours after he left Kiev for the northeastern city of Kharkov and denounced the events in the capital as a coup.
Yanukovych was impeached by 328 of the 447 lawmakers on Saturday, accusing him of abusing his powers and being constitutionally unable to carry out his responsibilities.
The lawmakers also endorsed May 25 as the date to hold early presidential elections following the defection of Yanukovych's loyalists in the parliament.
The vote came just after Yanukovych said he wouldn't respect any decisions made by the parliament, rejecting them as illegitimate.
But when he left Kiev for Kharkov and abandoned his presidential office, the opposition forces seized the occasion and parliament appointed high-level officials.
Speaking in a televised address from Kharkov, Yanukovych stressed that he has no intention of resigning or leaving the country, saying the events resembled the rise of Nazis in the 1930s.
'The events witnessed by our country and the whole world are an example of a coup d'état,' he said.
However, Yanukovych's authority was dismantled irrespective of his defiance with his cabinet promising a smooth transition to a new government.
Jailed former prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, was released after the parliament held an emergency meeting earlier in the day and it came only hours after the parliament elected Oleksandr Turchynov, a close ally of Tymoshenko, as its new speaker.
Another Tymoshenko ally, Arsen Avakov, was appointed interim interior minister, replacing Vitaly Zakharchenko, who was sacked on Friday after being blamed for the deaths of civilians in last week's crackdown on protests.
MOL/AB/SS
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