Ukrainian legislature deems presidential elections invalid

KIEV, Ukraine -- Representatives of the rival candidates in Ukraine's disputed presidential election prepared to meet at the negotiating table again Sunday, a day after the opposition's hopes for a new vote got a boost from national lawmakers, who called the election invalid.\nWestern-leaning opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko, who claims he was cheated out of victory in the Nov. 21 run-off election, is demanding a new vote. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators have jammed downtown Kiev for a week to support him.\nSaturday's declaration by parliament -- approved by 255 of the 429 legislators present -- was not legally binding, but it was a clear demonstration of rising dissatisfaction with an election international observers said was marred by fraud.\nOn Sunday, Parliament also passed a vote of no-confidence in the Central Election Commission, which declared Russian-backed Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych the winner of the presidential runoff.\nWhile representatives of both candidates prepared on Sunday for a second day of talks under a program worked out with European envoys, outgoing President Leonid Kuchma convened a meeting of his National Security Council outside of Kiev, his administration said.\n"It seems to me that the sides have the constructive wish to reach compromise," Ivan Plyushch, who is representing Yushchenko at the talks, told Ukraine's Inter television.\nYushchenko said he was seeking a revote on Dec. 12 under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He has also demanded that the current 15-person Central Election Commission be replaced.\nElection commission head Serhiy Kivalov said Saturday he was not opposed to new voting, but said that "before such an emotional decision is taken, a commission must be created to analyze the work of the CEC," Ukraine's Unian news agency reported.\nThat position would be unlikely to please the Yushchenko camp, which wants to keep the revote momentum going. Braving wet snow and sleet, thousands of protesters have gathered in a sprawling tent camp along Kiev's central Khreshchatyk Street and Independence Square. Field kitchens distribute hot food and tea.\nA week in the open has taken its toll on many of the demonstrators, sparking long lines for cold pills and even some home remedies such as horseradish soaked in apple vinegar and honey.\nDutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot, speaking for the European Union, said that new elections were the "ideal outcome" to settle Ukraine's political crisis.\nRussia also reportedly has said it would regard a potential revote favorably.\nProspects for a resolution of the crisis by a working group made up of four people from each campaign were unclear. Yushchenko's team had said Friday it would give the group two days to reach a decision -- a timeframe that Yanukovych's side said was not unreasonable.\nIn addition to the call for a revote, Yushchenko was also demanding that absentee balloting be prohibited, the candidates be given equal access to the media and that international observers participate.\nAt Saturday's session, lawmakers also called for changes in election legislation to be considered next week.\nMeanwhile, Yanukovych's Party of Regions brought together 3,500 delegates from 17 eastern and southern Ukrainian regions for an urgent session in the town of Severodonetsk to discuss autonomy for much of eastern Ukraine. Yanukovych and Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov were expected to attend, the Interfax news agency reported.\nThe crisis has exacerbated the stark divide between the pro-Russian, heavily industrialized eastern half of Ukraine, where Yanukovych draws his support, and the west, Yushchenko's stronghold including the capital Kiev, which is a traditional center of Ukrainian nationalism.\nIt has also driven a wedge between Russia and the West. Russian President Vladimir Putin openly backed Yanukovych and congratulated him on his victory, while many Western nations, including the United States, say they don't recognize the vote results.