KIEV, October 19 (RIA Novosti) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Saturday he had tasked his party with drafting a coalition agreement to secure a 300-seat majority in the country’s parliament ahead of the snap elections.
“I have tasked my party to frame a draft coalition agreement that will lay down all principles and criteria for the coalition’s goals,” President Poroshenko said late on Saturday.
“If we succeed in forming a political coalition based on [the principles of] European integration, 2020 Reforms Strategy, a swift and effective implementation of the judicial reform, the fight against corruption, and the creation of a favorable investment climate – all those things that are key to Ukraine’s survival – then you are welcome to building the team,” the president said during an interview with several TV channels.
A snap election to the Ukrainian unicameral parliament, known as the Verkhovna Rada, is scheduled for October 26. Ukrainians will go to the polls to vote in 438 MPs (50% under party lists and 50% under constituencies). The election threshold is at 5 percent.
Opinion polls say the Petro Poroshenko Bloc is currently in the lead. If the party wins the majority of 226 seats it will be able to form the government. But a single party in Ukraine has a slim chance of holding sway in the parliament, hence the president’s coalition push.
Speaking at the meeting with Ukrainian journalists on the heels of the Asia-Europe summit in Milan, Poroshenko said he hoped for a 300-seat coalition.
“What else do I hope for? I hope that we will form a coalition with 300 votes and that we will be joined in our coalition by those who share our principles,” the president said.
Other strong contenders, according to surveys, are Radical Party of Oleh Lyashko, Yulia Tymoshenko’s Batkivshchyna, Civil Position, People’s Front and Strong Ukraine, while the Communist Party of Ukraine, right-wing Svoboda and far-right Right Sector are likely to lose out on seats.
Authorities in Ukraine’s breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk said they will not go to polls on October 26 or on December 7, which is a separate election day stipulated by President Poroshenko’s law that also granted them a special status. Instead, the regions are set to vote on November 2.
