We just overthrew a democratically elected government in Europe.

[Ted King]

The whole notion of what is or is not a "legal" government in the Ukraine has been quite a mess for at least since 2010 when the Ukrainian supreme court threw out a bill that was supposed to have changed their constitution in 2004 and was "in force" for the election that "elected" Yanukovych:

http://en.ria.ru/world/20101001/160795260.html

1/10/2010

The court said on Friday the bill passed on December 8, 2004, "does not correspond to the Ukrainian Constitution" because of "violations of constitutional procedures of its consideration and adoption."

Opposition politician and ex-premier Yulia Tymoshenko called on Friday for early presidential and parliamentary elections since all of the country's power structures were elected under the old constitution.

"There can only be one conclusion: the president, parliament and government should all be re-elected at early presidential and parliamentary elections," she said.

Tymoshenko called on Ukrainian democratic forces to unite to hold talks on new elections.

The Ukrainian justice minister, Oleksandr Lavrynovych, said there were no grounds to hold early presidential or parliamentary elections.

The constitutional amendments were approved under President Leonid Kuchma. His successor, Viktor Yushchenko, sought to abolish the reforms, which helped to create the conditions for the political crises of his presidency.

Yanukovych, who was elected in February, said in his Constitution Day address to the nation on July 6 that the reform caused a "misbalance" and a "serious crisis of power," and proposed reviewing the constitution.

Some analysts argue that abolishing the reform will put too much power in the hands of the Ukrainian president.

Without the court ruling, Yanukovych's supporters would likely find it impossible to restore the president's earlier powers, as 300 votes in Ukraine's 450-strong Supreme Rada are required to change the constitution. Yanukovych's coalition in parliament is 35 votes short of that level of support.

Deeper background:

http://jurist.org/forum/2011/01/jurist-g...rochev.php