KIEV, April 1 ??“ President Viktor Yushchenko on Saturday urged parties seeking to form a ruling coalition to agree on a future economic policy roadmap before deciding on who will take which post in the Cabinet.

The calls for the roadmap indicate that Yushchenko has been seeking a safeguard to make sure the future government doesn??™t resort to populist policy as had been the case a year ago.

???An agreement must be signed between coalition partners,??? Yushchenko said in a radio address to the nation. ???It will anticipate not only general principles and tasks, but also draft laws and concrete government steps.???

???This agreement will have to contain clear plan of realization, strict timeframe for implementation and guarantees that the tasks will be fulfilled,??? Yushchenko said.

The comments suggest that Yushchenko has been considering re-creating the coalition between groups that have helped him to win the presidency in December 2004, but sought guarantees that such coalition will not plunge into populism.

???A year ago we had a chance to create such a coalition, but because of internal infighting and egoism, because of love for portfolios and the victory of populism over sense of reason that coalition had collapsed,??? Yushchenko said.

The critical remarks are aimed at former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, Yushchenko??™s former prime minister, whose marked turnaround towards populism has significantly slowed down the country??™s economic expansion last year.

Tymoshenko has been seeking to re-privatize up to 3,000 companies and has been seeking to introduce price controls on some commodities, such as gasoline, meat and sugar, which had led to shortages in 2005.

Yushchenko fired Tymoshenko from the post in September 2005, but her party??™s unexpectedly strong performance at the March 26 general election had helped to resume talks over the coalition.

Tymoshenko, whose party beat Yushchenko??™s Our Ukraine at the election, now seeks to quickly regain the job of the prime minister in the future coalition. But Yushchenko??™s suggested plan for the roadmap shows that the talks over who will get what post will be further delayed.

???Only after direction of movement is defined, we can start distribution of portfolios,??? Yushchenko said. ???Members of the coalition should decide who will be the most professional on this or that position.???

Meanwhile, underscoring further split in the coalition, Tymoshenko has stepped up pressure on Yushchenko and Our Ukraine to form the coalition by setting starting to collect signatures in support of the coalition.

The tent was set up in Podil district and calls on the people to support the coalition between groups loyal to Tymoshenko, Yushchenko and the Socialist Party. (tl/ez)