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Ukraine’s parliament dismisses President Yanukovych

Ukraine’s political landscape changed dramatically when the parliament voted to remove President Viktor Yanukovych in a special session on Saturday. Members of the parliament, which decisively abandoned Yanukovich after this week’s bloodshed, stood, applauded and sang the national anthem after they declared the president constitutionally unable to carry out his duties. They voted for new presidential elections on the 25th of May. It was by a more than two thirds majority, which makes the decision legal under Ukraine’s constitution. The lawmakers also voted to replace the head of the security services and the prosecutor general with supporters of the opposition. And the replacement for the defence minister is the former chief of staff of the armed forces, who was dismissed by Yanukovych just days before for refusing to send in troops against the demonstrators in Independence Square.