Ukraine's Socialists Accuse President Over Coalition Collapse

[Ryan Ruck]

Ukraine's Socialists Accuse President Over Coalition Collapse

Ukraine's Socialist Party blames President Viktor Yushchenko for a virtual collapse of a coalition majority formed in the country's parliament in June, a party member said Friday.

Ivan Boky said, "The president ruined the coalition by nominating Petro Poroshenko for the post of [Supreme Rada] speaker."

The coalition of Western-leaning forces broke up when the Party of Regions, holding 186 seats in the Rada, and the Socialist and Communist parties with 33 and 21 seats respectively joined forces late Thursday to elect Socialist leader Oleksandr Moroz as speaker.

The three parties are currently holding talks on the formation of a new parliamentary coalition.

Boky said anarchy followed the collapse of the "orange" coalition that "ruined the economy and created political instability."

"Therefore, we had to assume responsibility and search for a way out of this situation," he added.

The Socialists were accused of breaching an agreement with its "orange" allies, pro-presidential Our Ukraine grouping and the bloc led by Yulia Tymoshenko, who was Ukraine's prime minister for eight months last year and is aspiring to the post again. The "orange" coalition, made up of the three parties that propelled Viktor Yushchenko to the presidency in the "orange revolution" of 2004, earlier planned Poroshenko, an Our Ukraine candidate, as Rada speaker.

Tymoshenko said earlier Friday that the "orange" coalition had ceased to exist and urged President Viktor Yushchenko to either approve a new coalition or dissolve the Rada.

The Rada, meanwhile, is to form the government by July 22. After this deadline the president is entitled to dissolve legislature and call new elections.

[Ryan Ruck]

Ukraine's Tymoshenko Challenges "Communist" Coalition

A charismatic leader of Ukraine's "orange" revolution said Monday that her party would go into radical opposition against what she sees an illegitimate coalition majority in the country's parliament.

"People have not voted for such a coalition, so it has no political legitimacy," said Yulia Tymoshenko, the head of an eponymous bloc.

The coalition was hammered out last week as the Socialist Party defected from an "orange" alliance with the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and the pro-presidential Our Ukraine party to join a leftist camp. The withdrawal was prompted by the surprise election of Socialist leader Oleksandr Moroz as parliament speaker, a position originally promised to a member of Yushchenko's party.

Tymoshenko, an ally of President Viktor Yushchenko in the 2004 opposition protests that swept a pro-Western government into power, called the Socialists' newly formed coalition with the pro-Russian Party of Regions and the Communists a mafia.

She said Ukrainian society would never give it the go-ahead to form a government, as "this actually means driving Ukraine several centuries backwards and returning to precisely what we fought against during our revolution."

The former premier called for an early legislative election: "I am certain there is a need for new parliamentary polls. If the democratic forces prove not brave enough to halt what, in fact, is a coup d'etat, it will mean there are no worthwhile politicians in Ukraine," she said.

Tymoshenko said Ukraine had no future with the current coalition majority and that her party "will do everything it can to make that coalition unviable and bring about its demise."

[Sean Osborne]

Julia Timoshenko must have loyal, professional bodyguards as her life is in extreme peril from the communists.

[Ryan Ruck]

Yushchenko Submits To Parliament Yanukovich Candidature For PM

KIEV, August 3 (Itar-Tass) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has submitted to the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) a recommendation for the candidature of Viktor Yanukovich for the post of the country's prime minister, leader of the Socialist Party faction Vasily Tsushko told Itar-Tass. According to him, the recommendation for Yanukovich has already been received by the parliament's secretariat.

The lawmakers will vote on the issue of the appointment of Yanukovich as the government head in the afternoon, Tsushko pointed out.

[falcon]

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko worked so hard to get the Pres. and now come to make a deal with Viktor Yanukovich, I guess who ever got to him with something to change his mind. The old days we called that STRONG ARMING.