A leader of Ukraine's Samopomich (Self-Reliance) party says it has decided to quit the ruling coalition, increasing pressure on Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk to find new allies or risk the collapse of his government.
Oleh Berezyuk made the announcement on February 18, a day after the Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party walked out of the pro-Western coalition.
The loss of the Samopomich's 26 lawmakers leaves the alliance of Yatsenyuk's party and the president's faction without a majority in parliament.
Yatsenyuk survived a no-confidence vote on February 16, hours after President Petro Poroshenko called on him to resign "in order to restore trust in the government."
Berezyuk said the botched attempt to dismiss the cabinet marked was a victory for "kleptocracy and oligarchy."
Yatsenyuk said on February 17 that it was essential to reshuffle the ruling coalition, adding that he was in discussions with political groups, including the populist Radical Party.
Oleh Lyashko, the leader of the populist Radical party that has 21 seats and left the governing coalition last fall, signaled that it could move back in.
