Ukraine MPs jostle as PM vote postponed

A scuffle has broken out in Ukraine's parliament, the Supreme Rada, after it resumed business on Thursday. A member of Yulia Timoshenko’s bloc attacked an opposition MP from the Party of Regions. A vote on the Prime Minister has once again been postponed.

While discussing the day's agenda, a lawmaker from the Party of Regions said violations had occurred during Tuesday's voting on the new Prime Minister.

He was then attacked by an opponent from the rival bloc of Yulia Timoshenko.

A vote on the Prime Minister has once again been postponed.

Ukraine's parliament voted on Yulia Timoshenko's candidancy twice on Tuesday, and both times she lost by single ballot.

The Orange coalition blamed their rivals – the Party of Regions – for tampering with the electronic ballot system.

After no evidence was found, the party, led by Victor Yanukovich, demanded an apology.

The Ukrainian political analyst Oleg Voloshin says there are several ways out of the crisis.

“I really doubt that the Orange coalition is a good idea for Ukraine today. But the difficulty is that Mr Yushchenko understands that the so called Orange electorate, which he shares with Yulia Timoshenko, is the strong supporter of this coalition. And he is not a risky President enough to come out to the public and say that he understands that Orange coalition is not going to work for the country and that he started negotiating a coalition with the Party of the Regions,” he said.

“This initiative originates from the camp of Mr Yanukovich, whose party never rejected the opportunity of creating such union. And the formation of this coalition is the only way to overcome the current political crisis in Ukraine. But Mr Yushchenko is really afraid of loosing his supporters. I suggest that he would agree to form such a coalition only if Yulia Timoshenko will personally come out to the public and say that she is leaving all the attempts of forming an Orange coalition,” Oleg Voloshin commented.