Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn has confirmed that he has received the draft of a new coalition agreement. "To tell the truth, they brought [the draft of a coalition agreement to my office], but I have not read it yet," he told journalists in Kyiv on Wednesday.
Lytvyn did not confirm reports in the media that he had received the draft coalition agreement from Parliament First Vice Speaker Oleksandr Lavrynovych.
The speaker said that he had received the draft agreement on behalf of an "initiative group" that deals with the formation of a parliamentary majority. He said that the initiative group was represented by the Regions Party.
Lytvyn told Interfax-Ukraine that this was a small document.
He also said that the document had no title and was not the draft of a coalition agreement between the parliamentary factions of the Regions Party and the Our Ukraine-People’s Self-Defense Bloc.
"This is a universal document. Those who have the desire will create [a coalition]," Lytvyn said.
Regions Party Faction Deputy Chairman Oleksandr Yefremov, in turn, said that the Regions Party’s faction had invited the factions of the Our Ukraine-People’s Self-Defense Bloc, the Communist Party and the Lytvyn Bloc to familiarize themselves with the draft of a new coalition agreement.
He said that the document had been drafted by the Regions Party’s faction and had been submitted for examination by all factions, except the Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko, the Regions Party’s press service reported.
"Our political force drafted a coalition agreement on the basis of the program of President [Elect Viktor] Yanukovych, and we proposed that our colleagues consider this coalition agreement and make their amendments and remarks, if they deem it necessary," Yefremov said.
He said that the draft has already been submitted by Lavrynovych to Lytvyn.
"Volodymyr Lytvyn received a draft coalition agreement not as a document that has been submitted to parliament, but as a document submitted to the head of the Bloc of Lytvyn faction in the process of talks so that he can consider this draft," Yefremov said.
