Ukraine president starts coalition talks after poll humiliation
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko launched talks on forming a new coalition government despite a stinging election defeat that has left him weakened and searching for allies.
The outcome will affect the pro-Western drive Yushchenko has outlined for the strategic former Soviet nation since assuming power in late 2004, and will be keenly watched by Russia and the West.
After Sunday's parliamentary election setback, he faces a stark choice for coalition ally between Yulia Tymoshenko, whom he sacked as premier six months ago, and Viktor Yanukovych, leader of the main pro-Russian opposition party.
"The president has met with Prime Minister (Yury) Yekhanurov and told him to start consultations on creating a coalition in parliament," Ivan Vasyunyk, the president's first deputy chief of staff, was quoted as saying by Interfax.
After his first electoral test since assuming power, official results from 25 percent of polling stations showed Yushchenko's Our Ukraine party trailing badly in third place with 16.98 percent.
The big winner, on 26.33 percent, was the Regions bloc of Yanukovych, the pro-Moscow former prime minister forced to cede to Yushchenko in the "orange revolution" of November and December 2004.
Tymoshenko -- Yushchenko's "orange revolution" ally whom he fired as prime minister six months ago -- was just behind on 23.41 percent.
Comprehensive results may not emerge until Tuesday, election officials have said, although exit polls suggest Yanukovych's bloc could win up to 30 percent overall.
Those polls also suggest two other parties will make it into parliament -- the president's Socialist allies on five percent, and the Communists, who back Yanukovych, on three percent.
In Brussels, the European Union urged Ukraine's new government to continue Western-style reforms and further bolster ties with the bloc.
"What we would like to do is to seek a continuation of our reform programs with the next government. Of course, we have not seen yet, it is too early," External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said.
"We do hope that the next government will want to come closer to the EU,"
Monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) hailed the ballot.
"These elections can only be described as free and fair," Alcee Hastings, head of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, told a press conference, adding that Ukraine has established itself "solidly in the family of democratic nations."
With no party set to win enough votes to secure half the seats in the Upper Rada legislature, the next government will have to be a coalition.
If none is formed by June 10, Yushchenko can dissolve parliament and call new elections.
His rivals are now courting him to avoid languishing in opposition.
"Yushchenko is the beloved and they're both courting him," a senior Western diplomat said last week, predicting the president's tough no-win situation.
In the hours immediately after polls closed, Yushchenko's party said it was ready to reunite with the fiery Tymoshenko and that a formal agreement could be signed later Monday.
Hours later, other officials said he was keeping all options open.
Joining forces with Yanukovych will slow down reforms needed for Ukraine to move toward Yushchenko's ambitions of membership in the European Union and the Western defence alliance NATO.
But reuniting with Tymoshenko, who has demanded the premiership, may scare investors who are wary of her interventionist methods and strident stance on renationalization.
It also means endorsing an ambitious and popular politician who will likely challenge him at the next presidential election in 2009.
Although he enjoyed widespread support when he assumed power, Yushchenko's support slipped because of a sluggish economy and the acrimonious breakup of the feuding "orange revolution" team.
Yanukovych tapped into this sense of disillusionment, promising stability, economic prosperity and improved ties with Moscow.
AFP
