Ukraine: Kiev parliament supports mayor in row with president.

[Presenter Dmitriy Kiselev] The situation in the Ukrainian capital is very tense this evening. Of course, there has been no coup yet, but one cannot help but think about it after it became known that Mayor [and leader of the Unity bloc Oleksandr] Omelchenko openly refused to obey the Ukrainian President's [Leonid Kuchma's] decree.

[Correspondent] Prime Minister [Anatoliy] Kinakh personally handed to Mayor Omelchenko the president's decree about replacing the capital's administration for the duration of the elections. According to the decree, Omelchenko was dismissed for the duration of the election to be replaced by Ihor Shovkun.

[Passage omitted: known facts]

[Omelchenko, in Ukrainian] I asked Prime Minister Anatoliy Kyryllovych Kinakh, [presidential administration chief] Volodymyr Mykhaylovych Lytvyn and [Prosecutor-General] Mykhaylo Oleksiyovych Potebenko whether they would take leave. They told me they would not. You do not need to take leave [if you are running for parliament] on a party list. This is every candidate's right. [Word indistinct] Kinakh, Lytvyn and Omelchenko are running on party lists, but for different blocs …