Ukrainians were expected at polling stations Sunday to elect a new parliament, in an early national election meant to end the crisis that gripped the country’s political stage since April.

Voting stations across the former Soviet republic opened their doors at 7 am (0400 GMT), about 37 million voters being expected to cast their votes Sunday. They will have to chose the new members of the legislature from three major parties and several smaller ones.

The country’s President Viktor Yushchenko, along with his wife and daughter, cast ballots at a central poling station in Kiev, at 9:30 am (0630 GMT).

“I am sure there will be some emotions (after the election). But they are going to fall by the wayside,” Yushchenko told journalists.

According to the Central Election Commission, the voting was proceeding normally in most regions, even if several polling sites opened late in the Kharkiv and Donetsk provinces.

On Saturday, an incident involving a member of a Kiev regional election council was reported. The woman said an unidentified person opened fire on her vehicle with an air rifle, but she wasn’t injured.

A party will be able to hold seats in the parliament only if it receives at least 3 per cent of the vote. Opinion polls show that three parties are likely to control most of the legislature, the pro-big business Regions Ukraine party leading the race with some 30 to 35 per cent of the popular vote.

The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc follows with 20 to 25 per cent, while the nationalist Our Ukraine National Self Defence is expected to clinch the third place with 18 per cent, polls revealed.

Aside from those three parties, two other smaller ones could win some seats in the new parliament as their popularity hovers around 3 per cent, the same surveys predicted.

Political analysts said the election is likely to be followed by intense negotiations between parties to form a coalition government.

The feud between President Yushchenko and the pro-Russia legislature has been ravaging the country’s political stage since April, when the pro-Europe leader dissolved the parliament.