The ex-communist country has been in political turmoil in the past few weeks, as three Western-leaning parliamentary factions announced they had formed a coalition and were expected to make Tymoshenko prime minister again, only for the deal to fall through when one of the parties sided with the leading opposition faction to claim the speaker's chair.
But Roman Zvarych, a member of the Our Ukraine party, was defiant Monday. "The nomination from the parliament's political parties is with the president's secretariat and it has only a one name: Tymoshenko," he said.
The opposition Party of Regions, led by 2004 presidential loser Viktor Yanukovych, has been pushing his candidacy in a new would-be coalition for the premiership, which would see him return to the post he occupied under President Leonid Kuchma in 2002-2004.
However, Zvarych said that the country's constitution prohibited two parliamentary coalitions at the same time and that only one coalition could nominate a prime minister.
The coalition of Western-leaning forces 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 last week to elect Socialist leader Oleksandr Moroz as speaker.
Yulia Tymoshenko, who leads her eponymous bloc and was expected to be become prime minister again after an eight-month stint last year, immediately condemned the move.
Our Ukraine also said Monday that the Socialist Party had officially withdrawn from the coalition.
