Yanukovych boosted as MPs join new Moldova coalition
Thursday 11 March 2010
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EmailCommunist MPs have helped form a new coalition around Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's Party of Regions, allowing him to quickly name a loyal prime minister and consolidate power.
Mr Yanukovych's staunch ally Mykola Azarov is expected to be appointed the new prime minister.
The previous majority coalition was led by Mr Yanukovych's rival Yulia Tymoshenko, who was dismissed as premier earlier this month after losing February's presidential election.
The forming of the coalition followed the approval of constitutional amendments that allowed individual deputies to abandon their factions in parliament.
Parliamentary chairman Olexander Lavrinovych said: "As of today, three parliamentary groups have decided to form a coalition" - the Party of the Regions, the Communist Party and the Litvin bloc of parliament speaker Vladimir Litvin.
The three groups are seven deputies short of a parliamentary majority and are due to recruit independent deputies and members of other factions.
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