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Premier Tymoshenko says political crisis over in Ukraine

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Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said on Wednesday that the recent formation of a parliamentary coalition has put an end to a political crisis in the country.
KIEV, December 10 (RIA Novosti) - Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said on Wednesday that the recent formation of a parliamentary coalition has put an end to a political crisis in the country.

The pro-presidential Our Ukraine party, the prime minister's bloc, and a group led by the reinstated speaker have revived their pro-Western "orange" coalition after months of political backbiting which led to its collapse in September.

The three parliamentary factions comprise a total of 248 members of parliaments with a majority coalition in the Supreme Rada requiring 226 lawmakers.

"The parliamentary and political crisis [in Ukraine] is over. The Supreme Rada [parliament] will begin business as usual tomorrow," Tymoshenko said in televised address to the nation.

President Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine and Tymoshenko's bloc split in September over a host of differences, including Russia's war with Georgia in August. Yushchenko then dissolved parliament and called snap elections, which were subsequently called off after Ukraine's economy was devastated by the global credit crunch.

Yushchenko and Tymoshenko were allies in the 2004 "orange" revolution that swept them to power, but have since drifted apart. Both are expected to run for president next year.

The legislature had been without a leader since pro-presidential speaker Arseniy Yatsenyuk was dismissed on November 12 in a vote proposed by the opposition Party of Regions, led by ex-premier Viktor Yanukovych.

"The situation in Ukraine has been worsened by a deliberately created amoral political crisis which prevented us from effectively tackling the financial and economic challenges," Tymoshenko said in remarks clearly aimed at Yushchenko.

Ukraine's economy has been hard hit by the global credit crunch, along with the falling price of steel, a key national export. The financial crisis has seen Ukrainians rush to withdraw their savings as banks teetered on the edge of bankruptcy.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved on November 5 a $16.43-billion emergency loan to Ukraine. The country has already received the first tranche of $4.5 billion and a decision on the second tranche could be adopted as early as in January 2009.

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