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Main Ukraine opposition party nominates leader Yanukovych as PM

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The largest faction in Ukraine's parliament, the Party of Regions, nominated its leader Viktor Yanukovych as prime minister Friday.

KIEV, July 7 (RIA Novosti) - The largest faction in Ukraine's parliament, the Party of Regions, nominated its leader Viktor Yanukovych as prime minister Friday.

The decision was made at a party meeting, and the largely pro-Russian Party of Regions also plans talks with the Communist and Socialist parties at 5 p.m. local time (2 p.m. GMT) to discuss the possibility of forming a coalition, according to a source in the Supreme Rada.

New allies could appear in place of the coalition of Western-leaning forces, which virtually broke up when the Party of Regions, holding 186 seats in the Rada, and the Socialist and Communist parties with 33 and 21 seats respectively joined forces late Thursday to elect Socialist leader Oleksandr Moroz as speaker.

The Socialists were accused of breaching an agreement with its "orange" allies, pro-presidential Our Ukraine grouping and the bloc led by Yulia Tymoshenko, who was Ukraine's prime minister for eight months last year and is aspiring to the post again. The "orange" coalition, made up of the three parties that propelled Viktor Yushchenko to the presidency in the "orange revolution" of 2004, earlier planned an Our Ukraine candidate as Rada speaker.

Tymoshenko, who was fiercely opposed to coalition talks with Yanukovych, himself prime minister in 2002-2004 and a major presidential contender in 2004, said earlier Friday that the "orange" coalition had ceased to exist and urged President Viktor Yushchenko to either approve a new coalition or dissolve the Rada.

The Rada, meanwhile, is to form the government by July 22. After this deadline the president is entitled to dissolve legislature and call new elections.

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