Ukrainian President To Meet Leaders Of New Parliament

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko (file photo) (epa) April 11, 2006 -- Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko is due to meet today with the leaders of parties to be represented in the next parliament.

Five parties cleared the 3 percent hurdle to enter parliament. The Central Election Commission formally announced the results of the March 26 election on April 10.


The overall winner was the pro-Russia Party of Regions of Viktor Yanukovych, the man defeated by Yushchenko in the Orange Revolution in late 2004. But an "orange" coalition grouping three liberal parties could outnumber the Party of Regions by 243 parliamentary seats to 186.


The liberal party with the largest number of votes, the bloc of former Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko, has been in talks with Yushchenko's Our Ukraine bloc and the Socialists on forming a coalition.


An agreement appears stalled by Tymoshenko's insistence that she should serve as prime minister in the new government.


(AFP, Reuters)

The Key Players

The Key Players

BEHIND THE IMAGES: Click on the links below to read RFE/RL's profiles of some of the key players in Ukraine's March 26 legislative elections:


Click on the image for background and archived articles about Ukraine's March 26 elections.


Click on the image to see RFE/RL's coverage of the Ukrainian elections in Ukrainian.

Click on the image to view a photo gallery of some of the key players in the Ukrainian elections.