Ukraine PM says election decree unconstitutional-RIA

MOSCOW, Apr 26 (Reuters) Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich considers President Viktor Yushchenko's decree calling a parliamentary election for June 24 unconstitutional, RIA reported today, citing the premier's chief of staff.

Yushchenko, Yanukovich's arch-rival, signed a decree yesterday to put back a parliamentary election to June 24, overriding an earlier decree setting a snap vote for May 27.

''The previous decree dissolving parliament and the decree which the Ukrainian president published on April 26 are unconstitutional,'' RIA news agency quoted Sergei Levochkin as saying.

Yushchenko, who wants closer ties with the European Union and the NATO military alliance, is locked in a struggle for power with opponents who have a majority in parliament.

Yanukovich, the president's more Moscow-friendly rival from the 2004 ''Orange Revolution,'' has already challenged Yushchenko's original decree, which was signed on April 2.

Reuters AM DS1326