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Ukraine's parliament expected to elect speaker, PM

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Ukraine's parliament, the Supreme Rada, will make another attempt Thursday to elect a speaker and the country's prime minister.
KIEV, June 29 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine's parliament, the Supreme Rada, will make another attempt Thursday to elect a speaker and the country's prime minister.

Leaders of pro-presidential grouping Our Ukraine, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and the Socialist Party, which agreed to form a coalition majority in the Rada June 22 after months of political wrangling following elections in March, said Tuesday they intended to vote for Tymoshenko and Petro Poroshenko as prime minister and speaker, respectively.

But the pro-Russian Party of Regions, which won the largest share of the parliamentary vote and has declared itself in opposition to the Ukrainian authorities and the new parliamentary coalition, could thwart the plans.

The party, which was not invited to join the coalition majority, is protesting against the coalition's intention to take key posts in parliamentary committees and to vote for Tymoshenko, a prime minister and prominent figure in the "orange revolution" whose recent career has courted controversy, and Poroshenko, a businessman and former secretary of Ukraine's Security Council.

Members of the Party of Regions, led by former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, blocked the rostrum in the Supreme Rada Tuesday in a bid to stop a parliamentary session from convening.

"We are prepared to block the parliament's work for 30 days if it is necessary," Yanukovych said, adding that the Rada would have to be dissolved in 30 days if its members failed to hold a session.

Members of Our Ukraine and the Socialist Party said the opposition's demands should be partially met in order to allow the Rada to get down to work.

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