Ukraine's President backs down on threat of snap election

By Online Editor -

After months of indecision and political instability Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine's embattled president, has back down on the threat of a snap poll. The announcement published in the Ukrainian media (UNIAN) comes after the decision of his party "Our Ukraine - Peoples Self-Defence (NUNS)" decided, against the president's will, to reform a governing coalition with bloc Yulia Tymoshenko and bloc Lytvyn.

The president had called a snap election last October following the announced withdrawal of NUNS from the coalition in September.

The president has been under pressure to cancel the election which up until yesterday he was actively pursuing.

The reformation of a governing coalition and pressure from within the President's faction has forced a change of view.

The announcement of the decision to cancel the election and move against the parliament is welcomed as Ukraine faces a serve financial crisis in the wake of the world economic recession. A fresh election and the political fall out would only exacerbate Ukraine's already unstable situation.

Viktor Yushenko's support ratings in public opinion polls has dropped to below 4% in recent months. Had fresh parliamentary elections been held this month the president's party "Our Ukraine (Nasha Ukraina)" risked falling below the 3% representation threshold

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