Ukraine Parties Offer New Premier
The main Ukrainian opposition party joined up with two other groups in parliament Friday, and the new coalition proposed pro-Russian politician Viktor Yanukovich as prime minister.
The realignment means that Yanukovich, the Kremlin-backed candidate in the 2004 presidential election that sparked the mass protests dubbed the Orange Revolution, could end up serving as prime minister to his onetime opponent, President Viktor Yushchenko.
Yanukovich won the election, but it was declared invalid and Yushchenko was elected in a court-ordered repeat vote.
The move underscored divisions in the country between the mainly Russian-speaking east and south and the Ukrainian-speaking west. The merger creates a three-party coalition of the Party of Regions along with the Socialist and Communist parties. Coalition leaders said they hold a majority of 233 seats in the 450-member parliament.
The developments shattered a plan to elect a Yushchenko ally as parliamentary speaker and return Yulia Tymoshenko to the prime minister’s post.
Yushchenko had earlier fired Tymoshenko in a bitter falling-out.
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