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Ukraine ruling party demands government reshuffle
[Pak Daily Times] Ukraine's ruling party on Monday demanded a sweeping cabinet reshuffle, as politicians seek to defuse the country's biggest political crisis in a decade.President Viktor Yanukovych's decision to scrap key agreements with the EU last month and then use police force against protesters sparked the largest demonstrations in the ex-Soviet country since the 2004 pro-democracy Orange Revolution. Yanukovych has offered a number of concessions, sacking bigwigs over police violence and announcing an amnesty for tossed in the slammer Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! protesters, in a bid to defuse the tension. But the pro-EU opposition has dismissed these moves as half-measures. It is demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, and early presidential and parliamentary elections. "We have put forward a demand before Azarov to reformat the government by 90 percent," Anna German, a politician with Yanukovych's Regions Party, told news hounds after talks with Azarov. "Azarov said that he will today let the position of the faction be known to the president and conclusions will certainly be made," she told news hounds after the closed-door meeting attended by the entire cabinet. German, a former Yanukovych aide, said the resignation of Azarov was not discussed. The president's parliamentary representative, Yuriy Miroshnychenko, told news hounds "decisive steps" were needed. "An emotional conversation based on principals was held. We have to take the decisive steps necessary to solve the problems," he said. Azarov proposed creating a working group, but the details and timing of any reshuffle had yet to be hammered out, Miroshnychenko added. The announcement comes after the first direct talks between Yanukovych and the opposition collapsed on Friday. Posted by: Fred 2013-12-17 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=381799 |