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Ukraine's Batkivshchyna faction leaves ruling parliamentary coalition

Yulia Tymoshenko urged lawmakers "to leave the ranks of this formal coalition", noting that her political force was ready "to consolidate government and society"

Yulia Tymoshenko EPA/SERGEY DOLZHENKO

Yulia Tymoshenko

© EPA/SERGEY DOLZHENKO

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Russian lawmaker slams Ukrainian parliament’s no-confidence vote

KIEV, February 17. /TASS/. The Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) faction has withdrawn from Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada coalition, Yulia Tymoshenko, leader of the faction and the party of the same name, said on Wednesday.

"The party and faction find it unacceptable to be in the pack, which does not have a single chance to carry out reforms and reset our entire life," Tymoshenko said in comments on the reason for the faction’s withdrawal from the parliamentary majority.

She urged lawmakers "to leave the ranks of this formal coalition", noting that her political force was ready "to consolidate government and society." "However, we warn that if the political process is not relaunched in time, the situation in society can go out of control," the parliamentarian said.

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Sentiment in society is "quite aggressive" now. "If there are uncontrollable rebellions in Ukraine, and we know how many weapons people have in their hands, we could lose the country," she said. She called on "Ukrainians to avoid revolutionary and rebel attitudes that could lead to loss of Ukraine".

Initially, the ruling coalition in the Ukrainian parliament comprised five parties - the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, Samopomich (Self Reliance), Batkivshchyna, the Radical Party and the People’s Front. The Radical Party has already left the coalition.

Nonetheless, the three remaining parties retain the majority in parliament, having 243 votes after the withdrawal of Tymoshenko’s party (19 lawmakers) with 226 required votes.

The Samopomich party (26 lawmakers) is boycotting the parliament building on Wednesday in protest against yesterday’s vote of no-confidence to the country’s Cabinet.

On February 16, Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada failed to dismiss the prime minister. The no-confidence motion was supported by 194 parliamentarians instead of 226 required. As a result, a paradoxical situation emerged in parliament. A few minutes earlier, lawmakers recognized the government’s performance as unsatisfactory but were unable to oust the Cabinet from power.

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FACTBOX: Collective Security Treaty Organization

The Collective Security Treaty came into force on April 20, 1994 to herald the emergence what would eventually become the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The six member-countries are Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan