President's New Decree More Likely to Stand Up

Yesterday President Yushchenko signed a new decree on dissolving parliament, following his announcement to the nation the night before on TV. The new decree (1) pushed back the election date for a new parliament to June 24, (2) rescinded his previous order that called for a May 27 poll, and (3) directly cited Constitutional grounds to disband parliament. Nick Piazza: We have said before that new elections seem like the most likely resolution to the current tension, and this new decree only reinforces our belief. In addition to giving more time for the new parliamentary elections to be organized by the Central Elections Commission (CEC), the new order explicitly cites Article 90 of the Constitution, which lists the reasons why the President can disband parliament, making the order more likely to be considered legitimate by the Constitutional Court.