Speaker election signals emergence of new democratic coalition

Late yesterday, the Verkhovna Rada voted in Volodymyr Lytvyn of the eponymous Lytvyn Bloc as its new speaker. The election signals the emergence of a new clearly democratically-oriented governing coalition formed from the Tymoshenko, Our Ukraine, and Lytvyn parties. The appointment was approved by 244 MPs of 422 votes, receiving 154 votes from the Tymoshenko Bloc, 40 from Our Ukraine, 27 from the Communist Party, 20 from the Lytvyn Bloc, and 3 from the Party of Regions. The addition of the Lytvyn Bloc to the coalition bolsters the combined parties’ pull in parliament past the slim majority the Tymoshenko-Our Ukraine coalition commanded (248 votes in the 450 seat parliament vs. 229 previously).