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Member of Ukrainian PM's bloc denies coalition deal with pro-Russian bloc

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A senior member of Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's parliamentary bloc has denied reports of a coalition deal with the opposition Party of Regions, the UNIAN news agency said on Monday.
KIEV, December 8 (RIA Novosti) - A senior member of Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's parliamentary bloc has denied reports of a coalition deal with the opposition Party of Regions, the UNIAN news agency said on Monday.

The Kommersant-Ukraine newspaper cited its sources on Monday as saying that the prime minister's bloc and the pro-Russian Party of Regions had drafted a coalition agreement that would increase the legislature's power and turn Ukraine into a parliamentary republic.

"I think it necessary to announce that Yulia Tymoshenko's bloc has neither prepared nor signed any political agreements or draft coalition agreements with any political forces," UNIAN quoted Andrei Kozhemyakin, the bloc's first deputy chairman, as saying.

According to Kommersant-Ukraine, the document has two parts, declaring first the principles on which the majority is formed, and second how its activities would be regulated.

One of the provisions rules out attempts to solve ideological issues, which would mean that Tymoshenko's bloc would not support Ukraine's joining NATO, and that the Party of Regions would cease calls to grant Russian the status of a second official language.

The paper said that under the agreement, Ukraine would be able to enter a military alliance only after a national referendum.

The agreement also stipulates a "profound constitutional reform," Kommersant-Ukraine's source said, adding that "without any doubt, after these amendments are introduced, Ukraine will become a parliamentary republic."

According to a UNIAN correspondent, presidential press secretary Iryna Vannikova said President Viktor Yushchenko believed that business groups were hatching a plot in parliament.

Vannikova said Yushchenko would not take part in the Rada session on Tuesday, saying that it would be unacceptable for the head of state to attend "when they try to use his presence" to legitimize their business deal.

She said the president once again stressed that the law on early parliamentary election was suspended but not canceled and that he would return to finally solving this question when it became clear that ineffective parliament was blocking anti-crisis policies.

Yushchenko dissolved parliament in September after the collapse of his party's coalition with Tymoshenko's bloc and called snap elections, which were subsequently called off after Ukraine's economy was devastated by the global credit crunch.

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