UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT RESOLVES TO BLOCK KUCHMA REFERENDUM.

By a vote of 252 to 9, the Ukrainian parliament passed a resolution blocking President Leonid Kuchma’s plans to hold a referendum on public confidence in himself and the parliament, Kiev radio reported June 1. This step, which the parliament may or may not be able to enforce, ratchets up the tension between the two branches of the government, but the parliament also called on Kuchma to meet with the legislature to draft a new constitution and to work out their differences.

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