Ukraine parliament holds no-confidence vote

Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko faced a parliamentary no-confidence vote today after an unlikely alliance of hard-liners and business-oriented centrists demanded the government of Ukraine be ousted.

President Leonid Kuchma made a last-minute attempt to defuse the crisis on the eve of the vote, meeting parliamentary faction leaders on Wednesday night and calling for the preservation of stability.

The nation has already been rocked by a months-long political crisis sparked by the disappearance of a critical journalist and allegations of Kuchma’s involvement in his killing.

A compromise on the no-confidence motion still seemed possible late Wednesday.

Some factions that planned to vote no-confidence in the government said they would make a final decision today, just before the vote, reported President Leonid Kuchma’s spokesman Oleksandr Martynenko.

The legislative attack on Yushchenko’s government was led by hard-liners including the dominant Communists, who oppose Yushchenko’s reforms and favour a return to Soviet-style command economy.

They have been joined by centrists and others who have sought to form a coalition government that would be obedient to the legislature.

Yushchenko has strongly opposed the idea, but his spokeswoman Natalia Zarudna said on Wednesday that he was ready to look into all proposals for government appointments submitted by parliament.

In spite of his conflict with the parliament, polls have indicated that Yushchenko is Ukraine’s most trusted politician.

The former central banker was named to lead the government in late 1999. He is credited with reviving the country’s chronically sluggish economic reforms, paying a significant portion of overdue wages and pensions, and achieving the first signs of economic growth since Ukraine gained independence in 1991.