Members of parliament will vote on the candidacy of Viktor Yanukovych for the prime minister's job and are then expected to discuss and approve a new government, which should put an end to the political paralysis that has engulfed the ex-communist nation since the March 26 elections produced no clear winner.
But Anatoliy Kinakh, the leader of a party in the Our Ukraine bloc, said this was unlikely to happen today. He said the parliamentary majority, which his bloc joined Thursday was still discussing the line-up of the future government, though he added that he expected this process to be completed soon.
In contrast, 56-year-old Yanukovych, whose party leads the four-party majority coalition in the Rada and who received President Viktor Yushchenko's backing Thursday for his nomination as prime minister, was upbeat to the point of certainty.
"The Rada will approve the new government by the end of the day," he said. "We have reached an agreement with Our Ukraine."
Yanukovych previously served as prime minister under President Leonid Kuchma in 2002-2004.
A total of 226 out of 449 Rada deputies should vote for Yanukovych's candidacy to be approved.
