UKRAINE….

On what may have been the twentieth ballot – the talliers lost count – parliament finally elected its chairman, Peasant Party leader Oleksandr Tkachenko. The lawmakers, elected in May, must still elect a vice chairman, a presidium, and 22 committee chairmen before they can begin their work. A frustrated President Leonid Kuchma has begun to use decrees to reform the tax code. Decrees are presidential acts that take effect in 30 days unless rejected or amended by parliament.