Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


         New Ukraine Coalition Uncertain After Fatherland Party Demurs

   by Reuters

   Ukraine's prospects of forming a new coalition -- vital to get IMF loan
   talks back on track -- were thrown into fresh doubt on Tuesday after
   Yulia Tymoshenko pressed demands as the price of taking her Fatherland
   Party into an alliance.

   Her remarks dampened expectations of an imminent deal to end months of
   political infighting that have thwarted Western-backed reform efforts,
   delaying billions of dollars in foreign loans to prop up the war-torn
   economy.

   "If we want to save this parliament... then we have to outline together
   10-15 categorical conditions that must be met before the formation of
   any coalition," Tymoshenko said in parliament.

   The demands included scrapping a tax on pension payments and rolling
   back energy price hikes. The latter is a key reform implemented under
   Ukraine's bailout program from the International Monetary Fund.

   The statement suggested a coalition was far from agreed despite an
   announcement by Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk's party on Monday of a
   new alliance with Fatherland and Ukraine's biggest faction, belonging
   to President Petro Poroshenko.

   Tymoshenko's Fatherland is the smallest party in parliament, but
   support by its 19 lawmakers is enough to give the coalition a majority
   when added to the 216 MPs from Poroshenko's and Yatsenyuk's factions.

   Tymoshenko "is demanding a stack of political laws be voted on before
   joining the coalition. Everyone has to go back to the drawing-board," a
   source in Poroshenko's faction said.

   The lack of a stable coalition capable of pushing reforms through
   parliament has derailed talks for a new $1.7 billion loan from the IMF.
   The Fund has warned that political paralysis is putting the entire
   $17.5 billion aid program at risk.

   Support for Yatsenyuk and his People's Front party has tumbled since he
   took power after the 2013/2014 Maidan protests.

   Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Groysman, a 38-year-old former mayor
   and ally of Poroshenko, has been put forward as a replacement prime
   minister, but Yatsenyuk has refused to step down until a new coalition
   agreement is signed.

   Anton Gerashchenko, a lawmaker in Yatsenyuk's faction, said the
   three-party coalition had not been formalized.

   "We're prepared to back Groysman [for prime minister], prepared to
   approve the cabinet and the government program. But the snag is there
   aren't any documents about this coalition yet," he told Reuters.

   The head of Yatsenyuk's party, Maksym Burbak, said they did not expect
   any final coalition agreement before next week.

   Meanwhile parliament approved the resignation of General Prosecutor
   Viktor Shokin - an ally of Poroshenko.

   The United States has repeatedly called for top-to-bottom reform of the
   general prosecutor's office, which anti-graft campaigners have said
   plays a key role in protecting vested interests and allowing corrupt
   practices to flourish.

   While Shokin's departure will be welcomed by U.S. officials during
   Poroshenko's visit to Washington this week, meetings are likely to be
   overshadowed by the political crisis in Kyiv.

   Failure to form a coalition could trigger snap parliamentary elections,
   but there is no clear deadline as the responsibility for calling the
   vote lies with Poroshenko.

   Critics say elections would delay reforms further and boost support for
   populist parties who oppose the IMF-backed austerity measures.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/ukraine-coalition/3259307.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/ukraine-coalition/3259307.html