Ukraine’s Opposition scored a victory on Wednesday in its drive to overturn what it says was a rigged election, when Parliament sacked the government of Prime Minister and President-designate Viktor Yanukovich.After negotiations with international mediators, outgoing President Leonid Kuchma said Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich and Opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko had agreed that Opposition protesters should no longer block government offices.They also agreed to take steps to limit damage to Ukraine’s economy, hit by a week of mass protests.But no fresh talks would take place, Kuchma said, until the Supreme Court issued a ruling on Yushchenko’s complaint that the official count declaring Yanukovich the winner in the Nov. 21 election was subject to mass fraud.Several hurdles remain before Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko can claim outright victory in a crisis that has threatened to tear apart the ex-Soviet state which sits between former master Russia and an expanded European Union.The vote passed at the second attempt through secret ballot at an unruly sitting of the Assembly, with Yushchenko’s backers sporting orange scarves and ties — his campaign colour.Outside, tens of thousands of his supporters followed the debate through loudspeakers, cheering wildly at every procedural measure and embracing as the outcome was announced.“It is an important and serious victory for us but there is still a lot to be done,” parliamentary deputy Mykola Tomenko told crowds in near by Independence Square, taken over by Opposition supporters since the disputed Nov. 21 presidential election. The Opposition has vowed to use “people power” to win demands for a new election soon.Deputies also voted on Wednesday to create an interim”government of national trust”. Approval came just before the start of the talks under international mediation.
