Ukraine’s Batkivshchyna leaves ruling parliamentary coalition

Yulia Tymoshenko, leader of Ukrainian Batkivshchyna party, announced on Wednesday that her faction was leaving the ruling parliamentary coalition that supports Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s government, which survived on Tuesday a noconfidence vote in the Ukrainian parliament.

Tymoshenko told reporters that her party has taken on Wednesday morning the only possible decision, which is to leave the coalition.

Tymoshenko is a former Ukrainian prime minister, who was detained in 2011 by the regime of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and released after the triumph of the Euromaidan in Ukraine.

She urged all other political forces of the coalition to take the same step.

After the departure of 19 deputies from the Batkivshchyna party, the parliamentary coalition will be composed of 245 parliamentarians, while the absolute majority of the parliament is 226 members.

According to the constitution of Ukraine, the government should be supported by a formal coalition of political groups that have at least 226 seats.

If the coalition broke up, the government will remain in office pending a new parliamentary majority to be formed within a maximum period of 30 days; otherwise early parliamentary elections will be called for.