RIA Novosti) - Ukraine's west-leaning "orange" coalition has been formally dissolved, following one party's defection to a pro-Russian camp, the press service of the Ukrainian parliament said Monday.
The coalition, formed on June 22 by the pro-presidential Our Ukraine party, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and the Socialist Party, collapsed last week as the Socialists withdrew to team up with the Party of Regions and the Communists. Their decision was prompted by the surprise election of Socialist leader Oleksandr Moroz as parliament speaker, a position originally promised to a member of President Viktor Yushchenko's party, reports Trend.
The parliamentary press service said the Supreme Rada had registered documents confirming the dissolution of the coalition and the formation of the new coalition that had already nominated Viktor Yanukovych, leader of the Party of Regions, as the country's prime minister.