Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich said today all branches of power should fulfil a constitutional court ruling that handed him back presidential powers lost to parliament in 2004.
Speaking at a news conference in the Crimean town of Yalta, Mr Yanukovich said: "Ukraine must follow the rule of law.
"This is the main principle of democracy. So the president, parliament and the government must fulfil any decision of the constitutional court."
The court, in a decision handed down earlier today, gave Mr Yanukovich the right to choose his own government and rule in a presidential republic rather than a parliamentary one.
The court directed politicians to restore the 1996 constitution, under which the president chooses the prime minister and cabinet.
"The constitutional court has de facto changed the constitution," Yuriy Yakymenko, an analyst at the Razumkov Center for Economic and Political Studies in Kiev. "The 90 per cent probability is that the 1996 constitution will be renewed automatically."
Politicians passed the amendments in December 2004 under pressure from then-president Leonid Kuchma, who sought to limit the powers of Orange Revolution leader Viktor Yushchenko if he became president. Millions had poured into the streets after Mr Yanukovych, Mr Kuchma's chosen successor and a supporter of closer ties with Russia, defeated Mr Yushchenko in an election the cupreme court later annulled because of fraud.
Mr Kuchma refused to approve changes to the electoral law to prevent fraud during a re-run of the contest unless lawmakers approved the amendments.
At the time, Mr Kuchma's allies controlled parliament. Again Mr Yuschenko eventually won the 2004 contest and served as president until February this year, when Mr Yanukovych unseated him. Mr Yanukovych has the support of 264 members of parliament.
Mr Yanukovych ousted prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko in March after parliament approved a no-confidence motion. The president then appointed Mykola Azarov as prime minister with the support of 242 members of parliament. Mr Tymoshenko said at the time that the changes were unconstitutional.
Under the amendments overturned today, the president is mainly in charge of foreign policy and appoints the defense and foreign ministers. "We just woke up in 1996," politician Serhiy Vlasenko, a member of Mr Tymoshenko's group in parliament, said today.
"There is no judicial logic in this decision. This is pure politics."