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Ukraine’s pro-Western coalition is unravelling

Ukraine’s government, comprising the allies from the Orange Revolution, is poised to collapse after the prime minister, Yuliya Tymoshenko, allied with the opposition to strip the presidency of its powers. It is not clear whether Ms Tymoshenko has done this to pressure the president to back her policies, to boost her power as an alternative to seeking the presidency herself, or to trigger her departure from government ahead of tough economic times—and with an eye on the 2010 presidential election. The coalition could yet be saved, or a new one established; failing that, a parliamentary election must be held. With political tensions high in the wake of Russia’s attack on Georgia, the timing could hardly be worse.

On September 2nd the pro-presidential Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defence (OU-PSD) voted to leave its coalition with the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc (YTB), bringing the "Orange" government, which was only formed in late 2007 following an early parliamentary election, to the verge of collapse. ...