Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper since 1995

The parliamentary faction of the Regions Party has collected 120 signatures already. The parliamentary faction of the Regions Party has collected 120 signatures in support of the dismissal of the government led by Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, according to the faction's deputy head, Oleksandr Yefremov.

He said that the party had not yet collected the necessary 150 signatures as "not all [Regions Party] MPs are in Kyiv." Yefremov said that all of the 172 Regions Party MPs would put their signatures on a bill to initiate the government's dismissal.

He said that work is also underway on the collection of signatures of MPs from the factions that voted for the law on a rise in social standards.

"In any case, we'll register this resolution [on the government's dismissal]," Yefremov said, when asked whether the Regions Party will insist on a vote on its initiative, even if it cannot garner the 226 votes required for it to pass.