I'm still the boss :Ukraine's Yushchenko

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

KIEV, Apr 2 (Reuters) Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko tried to reassert his authority after an election defeat, warning estranged ally Yulia Tymoshenko she could only head a coalition government on his terms.

Yushchenko's Our Ukraine party finished a humiliating third in a March 26 parliamentary election, forcing him into a round of horse-trading with the charismatic Tymoshenko -- whose bloc placed second -- about forming a coalition.

In his first major public comments since the vote, Yushchenko made clear to would-be partners in a coalition government that he would still be in charge.

''There is no such thing as a coalition country,'' he said yesterday in his weekly radio address.

''A year ago we had the chance to build such a coalition but because of internal squabbling and egoism, the drive for cabinet jobs and the victory of populism over common sense, the coalition collapsed.'' Tymoshenko was a driving force in sweeping Yushchenko to power in the 2004 ''Orange Revolution.'' He made her prime minister but her radical policies alarmed markets and Yushchenko sacked her amid squabbling eight months later.

''For a week now people have been bickering over cabinet posts and talked little about policies .. I regard this approach as shallow and egotistical,'' Yushchenko said.

Yushchenko did not name her, but the remark was a clear swipe at Tymoshenko, who has been lobbying hard to get her old job back.

Investors fear that if a stable government is not formed quickly, Yushchenko's agenda -- including kick-starting economic growth, a swift entry to the World Trade Organisation and closer integration with Europe -- will be in jeopardy.

RADICAL The president said any partners in a coalition government would have to sign up to a detailed plan of action and a legislative timetable, a condition that looked like an attempt to rein in Tymoshenko's radicalism.

He also reminded would-be coalition partners that under the constitution it was up to the president, not them, to propose the foreign and defence ministers for parliamentary approval.

''Angling for these posts ... threatens the integrity of our governing system,'' he said.

The Regions Party, more sympathetic to Moscow, won the biggest slice of the votes in the election. It is led by Viktor Yanukovich, whose disputed election as president sparked the ''Orange Revolution.'' But his party does not have enough seats in Ukraine's Rada, or parliament, to form a government on its own. And most analysts say it is too far apart from the other parties to join them in a coalition.

Though weakened by the election result, Yushchenko still may have some bargaining chips.

Tymoshenko has ruled out an alliance with Yanukovich, at least in public. She therefore has no alternative but to cut a coalition deal with Yushchenko if she wants to return to government.

Coalition talks begin in earnest on Tuesday when current Prime Minister Yuri Yekhanurov, who is leading the negotiations, meets Tymoshenko. Yekhanurov has said the negotiations could drag on into May.

REUTERS PV VC0855

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