Political groups behind Ukraine's "Orange Revolution" Wednesday
said they had clinched an agreement on a coalition government after
nearly three months of talks and pledged to iron out the details
quickly.
An agreement, if signed in the next few days, could consolidate
the pro-Western policies championed by President Viktor Yushchenko
since weeks of mass upheaval against election fraud in 2004 helped
propel him to office.
Parties which stood behind Yushchenko, committed to nudging
Ukraine towards European Union and NATO membership, have been at
odds for nearly a year since he dismissed fiery Prime Minister
Yulia Tymoshenko. She now stands to get her job back.
"Last night, three political forces completed work on a text for
a coalition agreement," Roman Bezsmertny of Yushchenko's Our
Ukraine party told parliament referring to Our Ukraine,
Tymoshenko's bloc and the smaller Socialist Party.
Tymoshenko, sacked after a turbulent eight months as premier, said
only "technical formalities" had to be resolved. "I am certain that
we will complete these formalities quickly and will soon be able to
announce the formation of a democratic coalition," she told the
chamber.
"The main basis we have set down is moving Ukraine into the
European mainstream."
Anatoly Seminoga, a senior member of Tymoshenko's bloc, said
agreement had been reached to reinstate Tymoshenko as prime
minister as head of the assembly's largest "orange" group. Our
Ukraine, he said, had been assigned the job of parliamentary
speaker and would put forward a candidate.
Other party officials said Yushchenko would propose candidates
for the defence and foreign ministries. Tymoshenko's bloc was
pressing for the finance ministry and energy jobs.
Under new constitutional rules, the president has ceded many
powers to parliament, which now chooses the prime minister.
Rows over jobs hindered talks to rebuild the unity of liberals
since a March election in which the three parties won 243 of
parliament's 450 seats. Yushchenko, still a key player, had long
resisted Tymoshenko's return as premier.
The impasse has all but halted the work of parliament and
hobbled government activity. A proposed visit by US President
George W. Bush was postponed and military exercises with Western
countries, requiring parliamentary approval, put on hold.
(China Daily June 22, 2006)
