Ukraine leader blasts pre-poll parliament session

KIEV, Sept 3 (Reuters) Ukraine's president today dismissed as meaningless a session of parliament called before a snap election and urged voters to look forward to choosing a chamber he hopes will end months of political turmoil.

Viktor Yushchenko, swept to power by ''Orange Revolution'' protests in 2004, has dissolved parliament in four decrees issued since April.

He acted on grounds that his rival from the revolution, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, had sought illegally to expand his coalition in the chamber to change the constitution.

Yanukovich initially resisted the dissolution order and the assembly, ignored by the president, sat for weeks until the prime minister agreed to an early September 30 parliamentary poll.

Parliament's speaker called a session for tomorrow with the aim of stripping senior officials of privileges -- a key election slogan -- but the president said parliament remained dissolved.

''Let me put this plainly. In accordance with the constitution, Ukraine's parliament ... is devoid of all powers,'' Yushchenko said in a television address.

''Any decision taken by such a parliament is illegitimate and has no practical force of law and no political meaning.'' Yushchenko was to chair a meeting of the National Security and Defence Council tomorrow on improving living standards.

Yushchenko has long backed stripping parliamentarians of immunity but told viewers this and other issues should be tackled ''in a fully legitimate parliament, without illusions and hysteria''.

It is unclear how many members will attend tomorrow's sitting.

Any decision to abandon the longstanding principle of parliamentary immunity would require a two thirds majority of its 450 members, which is unlikely to occur.

The president's ''orange'' allies in his Our Ukraine party will stay away as will the bloc of ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, realigned with him after a period of estrangement.

Both groups have long given up their seats to enable the president to call the early election.

Yushchenko and Yanukovich both hope their respective camps will win enough seats to form a viable coalition after what is certain to be a long process of post-election negotiation.

But opinion polls show little change is likely in the assembly's composition.

Yanukovich's Regions Party tops the polls with 25 to 30 percent, but that score, when combined with Communist allies, is roughly equal to the ''orange'' camp.

REUTERS PY VC0001