Electoral reform laws stall again in Ukraine parliament News
Electoral reform laws stall again in Ukraine parliament

[JURIST] The Ukrainian parliament adjourned again Tuesday without passing a revised electoral reform package previously agreed to in principle by the leaders of the major political factions in the country's ongoing electoral dispute. The parliament had failed to adopt an earlier version of the reform package Saturday, but a second failure loomed large even before the Tuesday session got under way after Monday's putative accord collapsed after several further hours of negotiations between Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and party leaders. Government supporters in the parliament stalled the new package by insisting that it be accompanied by constitutional reforms to curtail the presidency's powers. The parliament's failure to act only seems to deepen Ukraine's political crisis, now in its third week, and complicates the process of conducting a new election, as mandated by the December 3 ruling of Ukraine's Supreme Court. AP has more.

1:49 PM ET – In a related but more positive development, hundreds of pro-opposition marchers brought flowers to the Ukrainian Supreme Court Tuesday in a show of appreciation for the court's December 3 ruling, which mny observers said demonstrated its independence in the face of severe political and social pressure. Reuters has more in this video report.