AP News, May 30th, 2007
Interior Minister Vasyl Tsushko, a central figure in Ukraine's political standoff between the president and prime minister, has suffered a heart attack, a ministry official said Wednesday. She gave no information on his condition.
Last week, after President Viktor Yushchenko fired the country's prosecutor-general, the Interior Ministry sent police to surround the prosecutor's office to prevent him from being evicted. In the face of that defiance, Yushchenko said he had taken control of Interior Ministry's forces and sent some to the capital, although Tsushko refused to recognize the order.
The moves raised fears that the dispute between Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych could spill over into violence.
Tensions eased Sunday after the Yushchenko and Yanukovych agreed to hold early elections Sept. 30. But Tsushko's status has been shaky: the new prosecutor-general appointed by Yushchenko said the minister was being investigated for alleged abuse of power.
Yushchenko again on Wednesday criticized Tsushko's move to send police forces to the prosecutor's office, calling it a "serious crime" and "an action for which the interior minister must bear direct responsibility."
Tsushko was being treated in a hospital, said a ministry official who declined to give her name in line with policy.
Meanwhile, mutual recriminations and disorder in parliament scuttled plans to vote on the last of the bills needed to call the early elections, with each side accusing the other of trying to sabotage the agreement. Yushchenko's allies walked out after Yanukovych supporters swarmed the tribune to prevent opponents from speaking and initiating votes on bills they disagreed with.
Earlier, the proceedings were interrupted for 15 minutes when the parliament building was evacuated due to a bomb threat.
Yushchenko and Yanukovych were bitter rivals in the 2004 presidential election. Yanukovych was declared the winner of a fraud-riddled vote that sparked mass protests known as the Orange Revolution. Yushchenko won a court-ordered rerun of the balloting, but Yanukovych returned to prominence last year when his party won the largest share of seats in parliament and he formed a majority coalition.
