KIEV, July 1 – Parliament voted Thursday to schedule local elections in Ukraine on October 31 in what appears to be an important political victory for President Viktor Yanukovych.

Yanukovych’s two coalition partners, the Communist Party and the Volodymyr Lytvyn Bloc, for weeks have been insisting the elections be postponed until next year.

The vote was approved by 247 lawmakers in the 450-seat Parliament, suggesting that the bill had been supported by all coalition partners.