KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukraine’s influential Socialist Party plans an alliance with social democrats and the Green Party to compete in parliamentary elections next March, party leader Oleksandr Moroz said Wednesday.
Other parties to join the bloc include the All-Ukrainian Work People party, and the Farmers’ Protection party, he said, adding that the future bloc may even be broadened before the official start of election campaign.
Moroz, a staunch foe of President Leonid Kuchma, earlier this month declined to join an electoral bloc formed by his one-time allies in the opposition camp. Moroz said, however, that his own bloc will be tolerant toward other opposition parties and was hoping to capture 52 seats in the 450-member parliament.
Opposition movements running in separate blocs may later unite to create a majority coalition in parliament, he noted. Election campaign is heating up in Ukraine long before the vote following months of political instability and opposition protests against Kuchma.
