KIEV — Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych pushed on Wednesday for a new ruling coalition within the week to avoid snap elections and tackle a deep economic crisis.
Yanukovych's Party of the Regions said it expected to announce a coalition in the parliament and possibly a government lineup Thursday, likely headed by Russian-born former Finance Minister Mykola Azarov.
Azarov, 62, an old ally of Yanukovych, would replace Yulia Tymoshenko, co-architect of the 2004 Orange Revolution who was ousted last week in a vote of no-confidence after losing to Yanukovych in a Feb. 7 presidential runoff.
Azarov is seen as a safe pair of hands and no radical reformer. He would give Yanukovych a reliable ruling partner after years of infighting between Tymoshenko and former President Viktor Yushchenko.
Azarov met on Wednesday with Yushchenko's loose Our Ukraine bloc, needing the support of at least part of the alliance to secure a majority.
Our Ukraine Deputy Roman Zvarych said Azarov gave them an "ultimatum" to decide Wednesday whether to join as a whole or be split by a new law giving deputies the right to enter a coalition on an individual basis.
"If the decision is not favorable, I understood from Azarov's words that a coalition will be formed and announced tomorrow anyway, as well as his candidacy for prime minister," Zvarych said, Interfax reported.
Tymoshenko's camp has condemned as a "constitutional coup d'etat" an amendment adopted Tuesday on the rules governing how a coalition can be formed. The Party of the Regions shrugged off the criticism.
"I think that it [the amendment] will be signed today by the president, tomorrow it will be published, and tomorrow in the assembly … a historic decision will be taken to form a coalition," Party of the Regions Deputy Mykhailo Chechetov said.
Yanukovych's office said the president has offered the post of deputy prime minister to former central bank chief Sergei Tigipko, a reformer who has called for "unpopular" measures to deal with an economic crisis that saw GDP contract by 15 percent in 2009.
Tigipko, 50, came in at a strong third in the first round of the presidential election.
The president's office said he had "agreed to work in the new government," but Tigipko's spokeswoman could not confirm whether he had accepted the offer.
Political analysts question whether Tigipko could pursue the reforms he wants within a government beholden in large part to Yanukovych's wealthy industrial backers. It is also unclear how far Azarov would share his vision of what needs to be done.
Reliance on a handful of disaffected Our Ukraine deputies for a coalition majority could yet spell trouble and unsettle investors.