KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy
Yatsenyuk announced his resignation Thursday, opening the way for new
elections that would reflect the country’s starkly changed political
scene after the ouster of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych in
February.
Yatsenyuk, a supporter of closer ties with Europe and a
key participant in the protests that toppled Yanukovych, made the
announcement from the dais of Parliament after two parties said they
would pull out of the governing coalition. He said Parliament could no
longer do its work and pass necessary laws.
President Petro
Poroshenko, elected to replace Yanukovych May 25, earlier praised the
withdrawal of the two parties. He said that "all opinion polls, and
direct conversations with people, show that society wants a complete
rebooting of the government."
Poroshenko’s calls for political
renewal suggests the resignation and new elections are the result of
planning and political maneuvering, not chaos.
Yatsenyuk took over
as prime minister just short of five months ago supported by a
coalition of pro-European parties. They took power after Yanukovych was
driven from office by months of street protests on Kiev’s Independence
Square, or Maidan.
The protests began over Yanukovych’s refusal to
sign a sweeping trade deal with the European Union, but swelled to
include wider grievances such as the government’s attempts to suppress
the protests with riot police, corruption, and lack of progress in
modernizing the economy.
"I think this is a fully expected and
planned development," said Balazs Jarabik, visiting scholar at the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "The president and the
government coalition looked for ways to clear the legal way for an early
election, as they are under a lot of pressure from Maidan and the
public."
The president can dismiss Parliament for new elections if no new government is formed in 30 days.
The
current Parliament was originally dominated by Yanukovych supporters in
the pro-Russian Party of Regions. That group has shrunk through
defections and its members face an uncertain fate in new elections.
When
he took office, Yatsenyuk’s administration was expected to be a brief
one because it was taking over with the government almost broke and
facing the likelihood of adopting unpopular measures to satisfy
conditions for rescue loans from the International Monetary Fund. It
succeeded in landing the IMF bailout and last week IMF officials said
the government was meeting almost all its financial targets.
The
government faces tensions with Russia which termed Yanukovych’s ouster a
coup, seized Ukraine’s Crimea region and cut off natural gas supplies
in a price dispute.
It has also battled a pro-Russian insurgency
in which rebels armed with heavy weapons such as tanks and anti-aircraft
missiles have seized public buildings and battled government troops.
Russia denies supporting the rebels.
The nationalist Svoboda party and the Udar party led by former boxer Vitali Klitschko pulled out of
Yatsenyuk’s coalition.
Parliament
speaker Oleksandr Turchynov said it was up to Udar and Svoboda to
propose a candidate for temporary prime minister to lead the government
until early parliamentary elections can be held.