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Ukraineâ€™s coalition splits

03 September 2008 08:52 (UTC +04:00)

Kiyev-APA. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenkoâ€™s party quit the government of Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko in disputes over reducing presidential powers and her failure to condemn Russiaâ€™s conflict with Georgia.
The decision, to come into force in 10 days if it is maintained, was voted for by 39 deputies of the Our Ukraine-Self-Defence party which has 72 members.
Yushchenkoâ€™s party made the move in reply to the adoption late Tuesday of a series of laws facilitating the procedure of sacking the president and weakening his powers as opposed to those of the government, voted in by the Tymoshenko bloc and the pro-Russian opposition.
If the pro-Western groups do not get back together and the decision to split comes into effect, deputies will have a further 30 days to form another coalition government. The president would then have the right to dissolve parliament if they failed.
Relations between Yushchenko and Tymoshenko have recently gone from bad to worse, with the presidency accusing Tymoshenko of "high treason" for allegedly siding with Moscow over the conflict in Georgia, a charge the prime minister denied.