KIEV, Nov. 1 – Almost two thousand protesters broke a fence around Parliament on Tuesday, threatening to storm the building to force lawmakers to reject the government’s bill cutting social spending.

The protesters retreated shortly after a violent clash with riot police near the entrance to Parliament, while pro-government lawmakers quickly reversed course and promised the spending will not be cut.

This is the second major escalation of tensions after thousands of protesters tried to storm Parliament on September 20, forcing lawmakers to postpone the controversial bill.

Oleksandr Proskurin, an activist representing Soyus Chernobyl Ukraine, an organization uniting Chernobyl clean-up workers that led the protest on Tuesday, said the decision to break the fence was spontaneous.

“These are the emotions of the people,” Proskurin told Channel 5. “There was no order.”

The protesters vowed to continue the protest until November 3 when thousands of veterans of the Soviets’ war in Afghanistan are expected to join the group, potentially spreading into a broader street protest.

The veterans and the clean-up workers appear to be the most active groups that are spearheading the protest against the government, which is facing a tough decision to cut spending this year.

After the clash with police, some 20 leaders of the protesters met Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn for a three-hour meeting to deliver their demands.

“He promised that the controversial bill will not be voted until an agreement is reached with the civil organizations,” Proskurin said.

The government also reported on Tuesday that a special commission was created that will include officials and the protesters to find a compromise over the bill. The commission will be led by Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy Tyhypko and will include finance ministry officials and other members of the government.

The developments show there was no much progress made in talks between the government and the protesters since the first clash on September 20. Tyhypko was responsible for reaching a compromise.

The bill, known as No. 9127, calls for scrapping separate legislation outlining social benefits to more than 10 million people, and instead allowing the government to decide on the size of benefits and the groups receiving them.

The bill, submitted by the government, was quietly approved in the first reading on September 9, and was supposed to be approved in the final reading later this week.

The government has been seeking the right to decide on the benefits because it alleges that many of current recipients may be receiving the benefits illegally.

The government plans to spend 16.6 billion hryvnias on its bureaucrats in 2012, but spending on the poor, including people with disabilities, Afghanistan war veterans, Chernobyl clean-up workers and other groups was projected at 13.9 billion hryvnias. (tl/ez)