President rejects premier's proposal to form coalition to protect Ukraine from global financial turmoil

Iryna Vannykova

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has said that a proposal made by Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to create a coalition for the protection of Ukraine from the global financial crisis is inappropriate.

The press secretary for the Ukrainian president, Iryna Vannykova, announced this at a briefing on Monday.

"It is an artificial structure, which will be inferior to the National Security and Defense Council in terms of legitimacy, mobility, and professionalism," she said.

As UKRINFORM reported, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in a televised address on October 19 suggested resuming work of the parliament and forming on Monday, October 20, a coalition of all parliamentary factions so as to protect the country from the global financial crisis.

"The Cabinet of Ministers should be urgently reformed on the basis of such a coalition, and a government for the protection of Ukraine from the economic crisis should be created and given a chance to immediately respond to global challenges," the premier said.

Tymoshenko also asked the president and the leaders of factions to "urgently resume work of the Verkhovna Rada so that it urgently passes pressing laws, including budget laws."

The premier stressed the need to declare a moratorium on any political confrontation. The leader of the BYuT said that her political force had unilaterally quit political confrontation and would not respond to any aggression.

UKRINFORM