Posted on 02/23/2014 5:45:15 AM PST by 1rudeboy
(Reuters) - Ukraine's parliament, exercising power since mass protests put the president to flight, named its new speaker as acting head of state on Sunday to replace Viktor Yanukovich and worked to form a new government.
In a hectic round of voting in the chamber, near where triumphant but wary protesters remain encamped on Kiev's main square, lawmakers stripped the still missing president of his abandoned country home. Its brash opulence, now on display, has fuelled demands that the Russian-backed, elected leader and his allies be held to account for corruption on a grand scale.
The European Union and Russia, vying for influence over the huge former Soviet republic on their borders, considered their next moves. EU officials said they were ready to help Ukraine, while Russia, its strategy of funding Yanukovich in tatters, said it would keep cash on hold until it sees who is in charge.
Parliament-appointed security officials announced legal moves against members of the ousted administration and those responsible for sniper fire and other police attacks on demonstrators in violence that left 82 dead in Kiev last week.
A day after dismissing Yanukovich with the help of votes from his own party, parliament handed his powers temporarily to Oleksander Turchinov, who was elected speaker on Saturday.
An ally of newly freed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, Turchinov called for an interim prime minister to be in place by Tuesday to run the country until a presidential election called for May 25. Among contenders may be Tymoshenko, 53, who lost to Yanukovich in 2010 and was then jailed for corruption.
Yanukovich, 63, denounced what he called a "coup d'état" reminiscent of Nazi Germany. He spoke on television on Saturday from what looked like a hotel room in a city close to the Russian border.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
I can see why Yanukovich wanted cheap Russian gas. Imagine how much it costs to heat that thing.
Just get the gas from Pouty-Poot’s Sta$h.
The yearly gas bill on that dacha alone could probably fund a smallish Ukrainian city for the same length of time.
Despots love the good life, while depriving the people a chance at it. This describes 0bama.
How I wish the US Congress would show the same amount of fortitude regarding Obama and his criminal regime.
not a fan of the mixed architecture styles
It’s definitely no Mt. Vernon.
They have some seats in Parliament, but I have no idea where to look to find out how many. Everything comes up Wiki, and I don’t trust it.
apparently the previous president ran away to the eastern sections because the military close at hand refused to support him.
It doesn’t matter how many elected seats they have, since they physically took the parliament building over and forced a vote to oust the sitting President.
Why are you still pretending democratic process matters?
Just trying to give a little perspective on the concept of minority vs. majority.
Folks even in the east don't like him anymore.
Even Putin has pulled money from him.
Yanuk is finished, comrade.
наелся
Swiss chateau meets east-bloc brutalism meets Disneyland.
REPORTER: “What is your reaction to the uprising in Ukraine, Mr president?”
CYPHER: “ I and my team have been in constant talks with Putin and his council, warning him that he should comply with democratic principles in the Ukraine, unfornately, he didn’t heed my advice”
“Further more, I can’t and won’t comment on the rumor that may appear in the media or elsewhere that I had a hand in the freeing of the Ukrainian people”
“Despots love the good life, while depriving the people a chance at it. This describes 0bama.”
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Excellent!
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