Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said he would postpone early parliamentary elections until next year, a newspaper reported Wednesday _ a move that would be a small victory for his bitter rival, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's political turmoil erupted into a fist fight in parliament before a vote to dismiss the speaker, a Yushchenko ally who is now setting up his own political force. Lawmakers from rival factions scuffled and threw punches near the podium in the Verkhovna Rada.
Yushchenko had initially called the vote for early December, but Tymoshenko's allies had bitterly fought to block preparations. Tymoshenko is at risk of losing her job in the vote.
"It is obvious that holding early elections around Christmas would be unwise," Yushchenko was quoted as telling the Polish daily Rzeczpospolita.
Yushchenko's office confirmed that he gave the interview, but declined further comment.
Yushchenko's alliance with Tymoshenko fell apart in September after months of bitter infighting.
The vote to dismiss parliamentary speaker Arseniy Yatsenyuk, and his efforts to bolster his influence, pave the way for yet more infighting between Ukraine's main political forces.
The struggle between Yushchenko and Tymoshenko has exacerbated the severe financial crisis Ukraine is suffering through.
Ukrainian authorities hope that a $16.5 International Monetary Fund rescue loan will help avoid a meltdown the country faces largely because of a fall in demand for steel, the country's key export. That led to a sharp devaluation of the national currency in recent months and was coupled with a run on banks.
Thousands of industry workers across the country are facing layoffs and many Ukrainians feel the pain of rising prices, caused by inflation forecast at 25.5 percent at the end of the year. Over a thousand people protested against the price increases outside the government building Wednesday.
The State Statistics Committee said Wednesday that industrial output fell as much as 19.8 percent in October, year over year. Yushchenko told a meeting of top financial and other officials that foreign trade deficit has widened to $14.3 billion since the beginning of the year, compared to $6.7 billion over a same period last year.
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Associated Press writer Monika Scislowska in Warsaw, Poland, contributed to this report.
