Rada moves to make coalitions by individual MPs, not factions

Yesterday Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada approved, on second and final reading, Party of Regions-sponsored amendments to parliamentary procedure that allow for a ruling coalition based on a simple majority of deputies vs. entire factions representing a majority of deputies in the legislature. Later in the day Rada Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn signed the bill into law. Brad Wells:  We have little doubt that under the new procedures, the Party of Regions can secure a coalition – recent vote tallies show its support exceeds the minimum 226 for a simple majority. Importantly, yesterday’s changes undercut the influence of Our Ukraine, whose participation as a bloc was necessary under the previous law.  Its demands for the Prime Minister post for either one of its own or compromise figure (Sergiy Tigipko, Yuriy Yekhanurov, etc.) are now unlikely to be heeded – making Mykola Azarov, head of the Party of Regions faction and former Finance Minister, the frontrunner.