KIEV, June 16 (RIA Novosti, Anna Vernoslova) - A bloc led by former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko Friday turned down a proposal to create a parliamentary coalition with a pro-Russian party, leaving the parliament's future in the balance.
The idea of including the Party of Regions in a broad-based coalition was mooted by pro-presidential grouping Our Ukraine, one of the Tymoshenko bloc's original partners in fraught talks on forming an "orange" coalition, which Western-leaning parties have been negotiating since elections March 26 failed to produce a clear winner.
But Tymoshenko blasted the idea, saying: "The Party of Regions is a clan [former president Leonid] Kuchma left as legacy to Ukraine."
Earlier, talks on an "orange" coalition broke down over disagreements on allocation of key posts, including prime minister and parliamentary speaker. Our Ukraine then said it would pull out of the talks and make overtures to the Party of Regions, which previously had been frozen out of the negotiations.
But Party of Regions leader Viktor Yanukovych - defeated by current President Viktor Yushchenko in the 2004 presidential race - remained bullish about his prospects.
"It will take us two or three days to conclude negotiations and consultations on the coalition," he said.
Under the Ukrainian Constitution, parliament is to forge a coalition within 30 days after its first session, which took place on May 25. If parliamentarians fail to reach an agreement, Yushchenko is entitled to disband the legislature and call new elections, although he has said he will not take this step.
Yushchenko said Wednesday that the political forces that were successful in the March 26 elections to the Supreme Rada should reach an understanding and form a parliamentary majority. He said he would make every effort to ensure that Ukraine had a democratic coalition.
Tymoshenko said earlier that if the Party of Regions participated in the parliamentary coalition, her bloc would be in tough opposition and would start preparing for the next presidential elections.
