Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn expects the majority coalition of the parliament to grow to 252 lawmakers after May 11 from nearly 240 lawmakers at present.
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Verkhovna Rada Chairman Lytvyn said this during the Big Politics with Yevgeny Kiseliov political talk show on the Inter television channel on April 30. "As for the coalition, it comprises nearly 240 people, but I think it will grow by another ten deputies after May 11," he said. The speaker said one of the reasons forcing opposition lawmakers to join the coalition can become a threat of early elections to the Verkhovna Rada. "If the question of the early elections to the parliament is raised, deputies will immediately run to the coalition and a small group of deputies will remain in the opposition who have received certain [guarantees] for coming to the parliament during the next elections," he said. Volodymyr Lytvyn said most of deputies do not want early elections to the Verkhovna Rada, as they face a risk of failure to be elected to the parliament. Volodymyr Lytvyn does not expect the opposition to achieve the holding of the early elections to the Verkhovna Rada through blocking the work of the parliament for a long time. As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the parliamentary factions of the Party of Regions, the Communist Party of Ukraine, the Bloc of Lytvyn, and 16 deputies created a coalition of 235 lawmakers on March 11, 2010. The coalition grew to 242 lawmakers by May 1. |
