烏克蘭總理辭職 議會廢除反示威法大綱

Ukraine's political opposition celebrated the first major victory in its two-month-long standoff with the government as the country's prime minister tendered his resignation Tuesday. But the move appeared unlikely to end the crisis.

Mykola Azarov's resignation came after a week of violent clashes in Kiev, the capital, in which at least four activists were killed, dozens arrested and hundreds injured on both sides. It was the worst street violence in the history of post-Soviet Ukraine.

A short time after his announcement, the parliament rescinded unpopular anti-protest laws in another peace offering to opposition forces bent on the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovich.

Opposition leaders had been negotiating with Yanukovich for four days, demanding that he call elections for the presidency and parliament. In a statement published on the Cabinet's official website, Azarov said that "the scope of the acute and dangerous conflict" compelled him to resign in the hope of enabling a political compromise.

"We have been doing everything to prevent bloodshed, escalation of violence, violations of citizens' rights," the statement said. "For all these difficult years I have been doing my best for Ukraine to develop normally as a democratic European state."

Word of the resignation was met with loud cheers from the thousands of protesters at a tent camp in Independence Square, a staging area for antigovernment protests, as well as those along barricades in central Grushevsky Street, the battlefield of recent days.

"It is good news but we will not go away until all our demands are met," said young protester Maxim Ivashchenko, whose face was blackened by the soot of street fires. "Now we want Yanukovich to go, and we want the murderers of our comrades punished."

Opposition leader Vitali Klitschko said Azarov resigned "to save face" before he was forced to leave.

"The resignation of the premier is a step toward the opposition's victory but it is not a victory yet," Klitschko said to reporters during a special parliamentary session. The lawmaker said the demonstrations would end only "if the authorities fulfill the demands of the society, meaning a complete change of state power."

Yanukovich had proposed a compromise deal over the weekend in which opposition leader Arseny Yatsenyuk would take the premier's job and Klitschko the position of deputy premier. They declined.

The resignation of Azarov, who has led the government since 2010, was one of the key demands of opposition leaders, who held him responsible, along with Yanukovich, for backing away from closer ties with the European Union in November in favor of a cozier relationship with Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted that he was not bothered by Azarov's resignation. Even if the opposition assumes power, Russia will not reconsider its agreements to lend money to Ukraine and give it a break on energy prices, he said during a news conference in Brussels.

"It is not important to us," he said. "We did conduct a constructive dialogue with the government of [jailed former Prime Minister] Yulia Tymoshenko."

Putin's remarks suggest that even he sees the resignation as a positive step, political scientist Igor Popov said.

"Now the most important problem for the opposition leaders is to persuade the radical protesters to start leaving the barricades," said Popov, president of a Kiev-based think tank. "But all [the protesters] want is the resignation of Yanukovich himself."

For the moment, however, the opposition was basking in its victory, particularly after the parliament revoked the recently passed legislation that outlawed many of the tactics used by protesters. Opposition leaders continued to press lawmakers to release jailed demonstrators.

"I approve of any news which could prevent further bloodshed," said a police officer standing in full riot gear about 60 yards from the protesters. "People out there are not our enemies. They are our brothers."烏克蘭總理尼古拉·阿扎羅夫1月28日向亞努科維奇總統遞交辭呈，烏克蘭議會當天也廢除了兩週前剛剛通過的反示威法，但似乎並不能結束兩月來的政治危機。

《洛杉磯時報》報道稱， 阿扎羅夫說，目前尖銳危險的衝突迫使他辭職，以期早日達成妥協，結束危機。

他表示，當前局勢威脅烏克蘭經濟和社會發展，威脅整個烏克蘭社會和每位公民。他說：“當前最重要的是維護烏克蘭的統一和完整。這比某些個人計劃或野心重要的多。正因爲如此，我做出了這個決定”。

烏克蘭總統網站公佈文件中指出，烏總統亞努科維奇簽署命令宣佈“批准總理阿扎羅夫的辭呈，批准烏克蘭政府的辭呈”。

與此同時，亞努科維奇要求現任政府在新政府組成前繼續履行自己職責。

阿扎羅夫的發言人表示，烏克蘭第一副總理謝爾蓋·阿爾布佐夫將任代總理。新政府總理將在烏總統獲得該國最高拉達（議會）批准後任命。此前烏克蘭總統亞努科維奇提議由反對黨“祖國”黨領導人亞採紐克出任政府總理，但遭到拒絕。

***示威者慶祝勝利

阿扎羅夫下臺的消息傳來，獨立廣場上的示威者歡呼雀躍，慶祝他們贏得的第一個重大勝利。年輕的示威者馬西姆說：“這是一個好消息，但在滿足我們所有要求之前我們不會離開，我們現在希望亞努科維奇離開，將殺害我們同志的兇手繩之以法。”

示威領導人表示，阿扎羅夫辭職是爲了“面子”，以免最後被迫辭職。

***議會廢除反示威法

在阿扎羅夫辭職後不久，烏克蘭議會當天投票以以361票對2票的壓倒多數通過決議，廢除引起爭議的反示威立法。反示威法案剛剛在兩週前通過。

反示威法禁止示威者戴頭盔、包圍公共建築，禁止未經許可在公共場地設置帳篷以及辱罵政府官員要承擔刑事犯罪責任。分析稱，這給持續不斷的反政府示威火上澆油。

2013年11月，烏克蘭總統亞努科維奇決定擱置與歐盟簽定自由貿易協定，引發大規模抗議遊行。示威者攻擊政府辦公機構，並一度佔領了司法部等政府機構。

反對派1月19日舉行的新一次市民大會演變爲示威者與執法人員之間的衝突，導致3人死亡。反對派要求政府辭職和繼續與歐洲一體化的進程。反對派領導人已與亞努科維奇談判四天，要求他下令舉行總統和議會選舉。