Ukraine political squabbles delay formation of new government | GlobalPost
▻http://www.globalpost.com/article/6758703/2016/04/12/ukraine-finance-minister-yaresko-will-not-stay-new-government-mps
Squabbling over top jobs in Ukraine’s government delayed a parliament vote on a cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday that is likely to see the departure of Finance Minister Natalia Yaresko and tighten President Petro Poroshenko’s grip on key policy areas.
Legislators are in the final stages of agreeing a new coalition following the resignation of Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk in the biggest shake-up in Ukraine since the 2014 Maidan uprising brought in a pro-Western leadership.
Deadlock has stalled billions of dollars in foreign loans and the delay in forming a government will frustrate Kiev’s allies, including the United States, who warn that political infighting can threaten efforts of recovery for the war-hit economy.
A close ally of Poroshenko, Volodymyr Groysman, is up for nomination to replace Yatseniuk who has headed governments since the “Maidan” street uprising which forced the Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovich to flee.
But Oleksiy Goncharenko, a deputy in Poroshenko’s BPP faction, told journalists there was still no agreement on who would fill the ministerial posts of economy, energy, culture and health. The vote on the coalition and government would “hopefully” take place on Wednesday or Thursday, he said.
But MPs said the new cabinet would not include Yaresko and some other foreign-born technocrats brought in late in 2014 in the hope that their outsider status and international experience would help Ukraine root out corruption.