Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko is preparing a decree to dismiss the government of his long-time rival Viktor Yanukovych, the premier-led Party of Regions said Wednesday, according to RIA Novosti.
The confrontation between the president and the prime minister, whose party dominates parliament, reached a critical point Monday after Yushchenko signed a decree to dissolve parliament and call early elections May 27.
"Sources in the presidential secretariat have said that Yushchenko is already preparing another anti-constitutional decree," Volodymyr Sivkovych of the Party of Regions said. "The Ukrainian president intends to dismiss the Cabinet of Yanukovych and take over executive powers."
"The decree would indicate that the president intends to usurp power and establish presidential dictatorship in the country," Sivkovych said, adding that no fair or democratic elections could therefore be expected.
