Tymoshenko demands dissolution of pro-Russian party

Tymoshenko vowed that her faction, the second largest in the 450-member parliament, would stay away from the legislature until President Victor Yushchenko dissolves it, a drastic move that the constitution allows him to make if a new government is not formed by July 25, the AP reports.

Photo: Tymoshenko demands dissolution of pro-Russian party

Tymoshenko demands dissolution of pro-Russian party

Yushchenko's former Orange Revolution rival, Viktor Yanukovych, formed a majority coalition last week with the Socialists and the Communists, destroying efforts by Tymoshenko and others to reunite the team that led the 2004 Orange Revolution.

The new coalition has its power base in eastern Ukraine, and some analysts have said it would slow Ukraine's march toward the European Union and NATO. Yanukovych was the Kremlin's clear favorite in the 2004 presidential election, in which fraud allegations sparked the massive protests dubbed the Orange Revolution. The Supreme Court annulled results indicating Yanukovych won, and Yushchenko beat him in a new vote.