CIS

Home page

CIS

Yanukovych Calls on Timoshenko to Resign as Ukrainian Premier

10 February 2010 18:55 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Viktor Yanukovych, who won Ukraineâ€™s presidential election on Feb. 7, called on his opponent, Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko, to step down as premier and allow him to form a Cabinet as soon as possible, APA reports quoting Business Week magazine.
â€œI officially ask the Prime Minister to resign and move into opposition,â€ Yanukovych said. â€œAnother political crisis is not needed for the country.â€
He urged the current ruling coalition to dissolve so he can start talks on forming a new majority in the parliament, according to an address published today on his Web site.
â€œThe new cabinet has to audit Ukraineâ€™s financial and economic situation and work out the state budget as soon as possible,â€ said Yanukovych. â€œIt also needs to address our creditors, our neighbors and economically developed countries to ask for financial help to combat the economic crisis.â€
A prolonged post-election battle may worsen Ukraineâ€™s economic plight and delay the unfreezing of a $16.4 billion emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund, adding to pressure on the hryvnia and government bonds. The country needs to adopt the 2010 state budget to resume cooperation with the IMF to stay afloat and pay for natural gas imports.
Yanukovych, who lost his first presidential bid five years ago, garnered 48.96 percent of the vote, while Timoshenko got 45.47 percent. Members of Timoshenkoâ€™s parliamentary party have claimed the results were falsified and said they would seek a re-count.
Timoshenko canceled press conferences twice since Monday and delayed weekly the government meeting today to attend a funeral. Another party member, Svyatoslav Oliynyk, said she may concede defeat, Interfax News agency reported today.
Yanukovych also said he wants to meet with Russian political leaders, the European Union and the U.S as soon as possible to â€œimprove relations.â€