KIEV, April 5 ??“ President Viktor Yushchenko??™s Our Ukraine party voted on Wednesday to form a coalition with two other parties that had helped Yushchenko win the presidency in dramatic presidential election in 2004.

Our Ukraine??™s top political body voted to join forces with a group led by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and the Socialist Party to form the government after the March 26 election.

The decision has been eagerly awaited amid speculations that some Our Ukraine members would rather seek to form an alliance with the Regions Party, an opposition group that had won the election.

Our Ukraine??™s vote came hours after the Tymoshenko bloc had given the party one week to decide whether both join forces in the next government. Otherwise, the Tymoshenko bloc has threatened to pull out of talks.

The development suggests the three groups will accelerate the talks to try to form the coalition, while Tymoshenko, whose group collected most of votes among the three, would push for getting the job of the prime minister.

The coalition between Our Ukraine, the Tymoshenko bloc and the Socialist Party would probably muster 243 lawmakers in 450-seat Parliament. In this coalition, Our Ukraine would probably get the job of the Speaker of Parliament.

Meanwhile, the Regions Party, which will control 186 seats, the largest single group in Parliament, said Wednesday that it will intensify talks with smaller parties to try to foster its own coalition.

Yevhen Kushnariov, the Regions Party??™s campaign manager, said the party will shortly hold talks the Socialist Party and the Communist Party to try to forge its own coalition.

Such coalition, which would muster 240 lawmakers, would challenge Yushchenko??™s liberal economic policy. The Socialist Party has so far been ruling out such coalition.

However, the Regions Party and the Socialist Party suddenly joined forces Tuesday to attack Yushchenko??™s loyalists by blocking session and preventing judges from assuming their duties at the Constitutional Court.

The development left the country without the court to settle potential disputes between the president and Parliament.

Yushchenko was so disappointed by the development that he had cancelled his scheduled farewell address to lawmakers on Tuesday, people familiar with the situation said. (tl/ez)