KIEV - Several thousand people protested in central Kiev on Monday against President Viktor Yushchenko's threat to dissolve parliament and call early elections.
Many waved the Ukrainian flag and the blue banner of the pro-Russian Regions party as lawmakers addressed the crowd. Organisers also set up more than 100 tents for protesters in a park nearby, invoking the tent city of the "orange revolution" protests that brought Yushchenko to power in 2004.

The president was due to hold crisis talks with parliamentary leaders on Monday over a political clash that has hampered government for months.

The crisis has come to a head with the Western-leaning Yushchenko's threat to dissolve the parliament, which is controlled by a pro-Russian coalition.

"I am worried about the lack of stability, people should get to work. Now is a time for farming," said Oleksandr Klykov, a local deputy from the Socialist party, which is part of the ruling coalition.

"Why hold early elections? It's a waste of money!" said another protester, Igor Marchenko, who travelled to Kiev from the Cherkassy region in central Ukraine.

On Saturday, tens of thousands of pro-Yushchenko supporters rallied in favour of early elections. At the same time, up to 20,000 supporters of the Regions party protested against them.