Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich went on sick leave on Thursday with an acute respiratory ailment, leaving a political vacuum in a country destabilized by anti-government protests.
Yanukovich's prime minister, Mykola Azarov, resigned on Tuesday after a sharp escalation of two months of street unrest prompted by Yanukovich's rejection of a European Union deal in favor of closer ties and a bailout deal with Russia.
The president, increasingly isolated at home and under pressure from Moscow not to tilt policy back towards the West, has yet to appoint a successor. Serhiy Arbuzov, who was Azarov's first deputy and is a close family friend of Yanukovich, has stepped in as interim prime minister.
"The president of Ukraine has been officially registered as sick with an acute respiratory ailment and a high temperature," at statement on the presidential website said.
The bare announcement, which gave no indication of when he might be back at his desk, left open the possibility that he could still work on documents even though he was on sick leave.
"Today is the first day of the illness. He has a high temperature. We are not doctors, but it is clear that a high temperature does not go down in a single day," a presidential spokesman said by telephone. "The doctors will do all they can so that he can recover quickly."
Some opposition figures said they suspected Yanukovich might be simply giving himself a breathing space after being forced into concessions to try to calm the unrest on the streets.
"This smacks of a 'diplomatic illness'," Rostislav Pavlenko, a member of boxer-turned-politician Vitaly Klitschko's Udar (Punch) party, told Reuters. "It allows Yanukovich not to sign laws, not to meet the opposition, absent himself from decisions to solve the political crisis."
A close ally of Yanukovich, who was last seen in parliament on Wednesday night, rejected that interpretation.
The president had hurried to the legislature to herd supporters into voting for a partial amnesty for detained protesters aimed at tempting activists to stop occupying government buildings in Kiev and elsewhere.
Mykhailo Chechetov, from Yanukovich's Party of Regions, said the president had told supporters in parliament that he had come to the session directly from hospital. "He looked ill," Chechetov said.
URGENT TASKS
A video clip showed Yanukovich walking up a staircase in parliament surrounded by bodyguards and wearing an open neck shirt.
The amnesty bill passed late on Wednesday but few protesters are likely to leave occupied buildings outright.
The 63-year-old president has not had a history of ill health. He has full control over the government and still has solid backing in parliament but there are signs of discontent in his Party of Regions over the continuing crisis on the streets.
He replaced his long-standing head of administration in mid-January and has since sacked his press secretary.
His most urgent task now is to appoint a successor to Azarov, who served him loyally for four years, while the opposition is anxious that he also signs into force a repeal of anti-protest legislation.
Ukraine badly needs a new government. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday Moscow would wait until one was formed before fully implementing the $15 billion bailout deal.
Six people have been killed and hundreds injured in street battles between anti-government demonstrators and police which escalated sharply after the authorities toughened their response.
