Ukraine's governing coalition is on the brink of collapse after the pro-presidential "Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense" party staged a walkout Tuesday.
President Viktor Yushchenko has threatened to dismiss parliament and call a snap election if a new governing coalition cannot be created in time.
The recent exchange of words and actions have plunged the country into yet more political turmoil, in what analysts believe the struggle for power between Yushchenko and Prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko is the root cause.
In last September's parliamentary elections, Yushchenko's bloc and Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense party won 227 seats altogether in the 450-member parliament and formed a governing coalition led by Tymoshenko.
Yushchenko and Tymoshenko have since been engaged in a tug-of-war for power.
As the date draws near for the 2010 presidential election, in which the two rivals are likely to face off, the power struggle has reached boiling point, analysts say.
On Tuesday, the legislature passed amendments to the law on the cabinet of ministers and a series of bills that would weaken the power of the president.
The "Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense" party accused Tymoshenko's bloc of colluding with the opposition Party of Regions during the votes and pulled out of the ruling coalition after an extraordinary meeting.
Yushchenko also described the move as a bid to establish a "dictatorship of the prime minister," saying "a political and constitutional coup d'etat has started in the parliament."
Rebuking Yushchenko's accusations, Tymoshenko said Wednesday the real reason the president "declared a war against me is to ensure his victory in the next presidential elections."
Another factor contributing to the outbreak of this political crisis is that the foundations of the ruling coalition are not firm.
Tymoshenko's coalition lost its slim majority after two legislators pulled out last month, which reduced the strength of the coalition and brought its legitimacy into question, analysts say.
The opposition insisted that the pullout of the two lawmakers signified a breakup of the coalition and called on the government to resign.
Directed by their individual interests, major political factions are unlikely to compromise easily and a fast settlement of the crisis is no easy job, analysts say, listing three possible solutions.
One possibility is that members of the ruling coalition can bridge their differences through consultations to patch up the coalition.
Tymoshenko has urged the pro-presidential party to come back to the governing coalition and seek an end to the political crisis through negotiations.
However, analysts say the recent fierce exchange of accusations exert slim hope on this solution.
Another possibility is that a new ruling coalition is formed.
Under Ukrainian law, a parliament has 30 days to form a new coalition after one is dissolved, otherwise it is at risk of being dismissed by the president.
Analysts predict that Tymoshenko's block and the Party of Regions will play a dominant role in a new coalition.
The third possibility is that Yushchenko dissolves the parliament and calls a fresh election.
Ukraine has held two parliamentary elections in three years since the "Orange Revolution" in 2004, but stability in the country has not been restored after the elections.
Analysts say that unless amendments to the electoral laws are made, the strength of political factions would not change in the elections and the political turmoil is likely to continue.
Source:Xinhua
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