Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz was voted in as parliamentary speaker Thursday night with a majority of 238 votes from his party and two opposition parties in the 450-seat legislature despite a coalition agreement with two other "orange" parties on the candidacy of Petro Poroshenko from the pro-presidential Our Ukraine block.
"It was not a random but a deliberate move and parts of the Socialist Party, the Party of Regions and Our Ukraine were ready for this scenario," said Kost Bondarenko, director of Kiev-based Institute for Management Problems.
After an announcement came that a coalition had been formed by the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, Our Ukraine and the Socialist Party - the three movements that propelled Viktor Yushchenko to the presidency in the 2004 "orange revolution" - it had been widely assumed they would divvy up key posts among themselves.
But Kost criticized those politicians who were surprised by Moroz's election, saying they had short-sighted while looking at the world through "orange-tinted glasses."
The analyst said Moroz served as a bridge between the pro-Russian east and the Europe-leaning west of the country, which has been mired in a political crisis since March 26 elections failed to produce an absolute parliamentary majority.
"Moroz's election provides grounds to hope for an end to the confrontation between the two political camps," he said.
Moroz said following his election that he would seek to heal the rift in society and parliament, though recriminations between the members of the "orange coalition" have already started to fly.
Bondarenko suggested two ways for the political situation to develop. First, Moroz could propose dividing spheres of influence between the "orange" coalition and the current opposition, the Party of Regions and the Communists.
"In this event, Moroz could offer Tymoshenko the post of prime minister, while the Party of Regions will take over parliamentary posts," the expert said.
The second option, which Bondarenko deems to be more realistic, is for the Party of Regions, part of Our Ukraine and the Socialists to form a new coalition.
"Then, it is quite possible that the post of prime minister will be offered to a representative of the Party of Regions - [head of the political council] Mykola Azarov or party leader Viktor Yanukovych - as well as the post of deputy speaker, and the second deputy speaker will be from the Communists," Bondarenko said.
