The proposal forwarded by Speaker Oleksandr Moroz, the leader of the Socialist Party, was endorsed by more than half of the 450-seat Supreme Rada.
Moroz was elected Thursday night after the opposition Party of Regions dropped a blockade of the Rada as a result of a compromise reached with the "orange" coalition of three Western-leaning factions.
Moroz's candidacy was backed by two opposition parties - the Communist Party and the Party of Regions - even though the coalition of the Socialist Party, the pro-presidential Our Ukraine bloc and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc had agreed June 22 to support a candidate from Our Ukraine during the vote. The controversy resulted in some coalition deputies' refusal to participate in the vote in protest against the Socialist faction.
Roman Zvarych of Our Ukraine said the election of Moroz meant the collapse of the coalition, and added that Our Ukraine bloc would never again join any association with the Socialists.
"Our Ukraine will not support a coalition where people are appointed in breach of the coalition agreement," Zvarych said.
Yulia Tymoshenko, President Viktor Yushchenko's fiery first prime minister who was looking to return to her former post, also let her feelings be known.
"Until a [new] coalition is formed, all parliamentary activities will be illegitimate," she said.
Following a session of a conciliation committee, set up to find an understanding between the opposition and the "orange" coalition, Moroz said the Rada was working in compliance with regulations.
The Rada resumed work Thursday after the opposition ended the blockade of the rostrum and reached a compromise with the coalition majority. Viktor Yanukovych's pro-Russia Party of Regions had staged a sit-in since June 27 in protest against the allocation of Cabinet and Rada portfolios by the coalition.
But Moroz, who served as speaker from 1994 to 1998, said some legal and political issues were yet to be coordinated, which would take some time.
"The Rada's further work must not be based on principles of confrontation," Moroz said.
The Party of Regions has already suggested that Yanukovych return to the prime minister's chair, which he occupied in 2002-2004, in a coalition that could include the Communists and Socialists, although Moroz's party has expressed little enthusiasm so far.
The Rada is to form the government by July 22. After this deadline the president is entitled to dissolve legislature and call new elections, though President Viktor Yushchenko has already warned that holding new elections could be too costly.
Tymoshenko suggested Yushchenko might want to think again.
"Now the president has to decide on a parliamentary coalition and use his right to disband parliament if he thinks it [the coalition] does not exist," she said.
