Ukraine will not hold early parliamentary elections following the recent changes made to the country's constitution, which boosted the powers of the president, President Viktor Yanukovych said on Friday.
"They [elections] must be in line with the constitution," Yanukovych told the Ukraina TV station.
Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruled on September 30 that the 2004 constitutional reform, which transferred a significant amount of power from the president to parliament, was adopted in breach of the constitution.
The court's decision means that the amendments that came into force in summer 2006 are no longer valid, and that the norms of the 1996 Constitution have been restored.
This caused confusion as to when the next parliamentary elections should take place.
The 1996 Constitution stipulates that the parliament is elected for four years, while the current parliament was elected in 2007 for five years, after the amendments had been introduced.
The Ukrainian opposition called for early presidential and parliamentary polls in order to prevent political instability in the country.
The Ukrainian parliament voted earlier on Friday to amend the country's constitution to make the presidential term of office five years, the same length of term held by deputies in the country.
Kiev, October 8 (RIA Novosti)
