Our Ukraine, led by incumbent Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov, said Tuesday it was suspending its participation in the talks until Tymoshenko clarified her position on how posts in the new government would be distributed. The heroine of the 2004 "orange revolution" has consistently sought to return to her former position.
Oleksandr Turchinov, a representative of Tymoshenko's bloc, called Our Ukraine's decision to suspend talks "a blow on the coalition's formation and an attempt to impede negotiations."
Tymoshenko's bloc, which finished second in the March 26 parliamentary election with 22.29% of the vote (129 seats) said Monday it wanted its representative to be prime minister and a member of the Socialist Party, which took 5.69% of the vote (33 seats), to become parliamentary speaker.
