Ukraine parliament coalition deal close - ex-PM Tymoshenko
15/05/2006 14:13
KIEV, May 15 (RIA Novosti) - A draft agreement on forming a majority coalition in Ukraine's parliament will be ready by Monday evening, former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko said.
The agreement comes after a period of intensive negotiations between groups following March 26 elections to the Supreme Rada that failed to produce an overall winner, and could herald the formation of a new government
"Work on a draft coalition agreement will be completed by the end of the day on Monday," Tymoshenko said, adding that the deal would be read at a meeting with President Viktor Yushchenko Tuesday or Wednesday.
The coalition is likely to include Tymoshenko's eponymous bloc, the pro-presidential Our Ukraine bloc, and the Socialist Party. The draft agreement covers four areas - foreign and domestic policy, economic programs, government programs for the next five years, and procedural rules setting out areas of activity, Tymoshenko said.
Official election results saw the Party of Regions, led by former presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych, take first place with 32.14% of the vote, which translates to 186 seats in the 450-seat Rada.
Yanukovych's pro-Russia party was followed by the Tymoshenko bloc with 22.29% of the vote (129 seats), Our Ukraine with 13.95% (81 seats), the Socialist Party with 5.69% (33 seats) and the Communist Party with 3.66% (21 seats).
Negotiations on forming a coalition, as mandated in the country's constitution, had been complicated over disagreements on who should be appointed prime minister, and over Tymoshenko's refusal to deal with the Party of Regions.
Yushchenko sacked Tymoshenko - who previously insisted she would only join a coalition if she got the PM's job - as prime minister last September in a very public falling-out that saw both politicians' circles trade allegations of corruption.
Earlier in May President Viktor Yushchenko met with Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov, who also heads the pro-presidential Our Ukraine bloc, and the other leaders of parliamentary parties elected at the March 26 polls to discuss forming a coalition.
No other party won a 3% share of the vote needed to take up a place in the Rada, which under the country's constitution must convene 30 days after the publication of the election results in two newspapers on April 27.
