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Ukraine’s parliament fails to send Yatsenyuk government to resignation

A no-confidence vote on Tuesday was supported by 194 lawmakers whereas at least 226 votes are needed to pass a resolution

© AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov

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Ukraine’s parliament recognizes Yatsenyuk government work unsatisfactory

KIEV, February 16. /TASS/. Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada (parliament) has failed to send Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and his government to resignation.

A no-confidence vote on Tuesday was supported by 194 lawmakers whereas at least 226 votes are needed to pass a resolution.

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So, the situation in the Ukrainian parliament looks quite paradoxical as several minutes before the no-confidence voting the Rada recognized the government’s work as unsatisfactory.

The Rada discussed the government’s report of its work in the past year for about four hours. Before that, President Pyotr Poroshenko came up with an address to the nation where he actually called on Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk to step down as seventy percent of the country’s population disprove the government’s activities.

During the day, lawmakers with the pro-presidential Pyotr Poroshenko Bloc faction collected 150 signatures needed to put the no-confidence issue for parliament voting. However the parliamentary coalition split over this issue. Thus, the Pyotr Poroshenko Bloc, Batkivshchina (Fatherland) and Samopomoshch (Self-assistance) factions favored the cabinet resignation whereas the prime minister’s Popular Front was predictably against.

Moreover, practically all lawmakers from the Opposition Bloc faction (32 out of 40) unexpectedly left the Rada before voting. Prior to this move, an Opposition Bloc lawmaker, Vadim Rabinovich demanded all the ministers be put in prison.

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