KIEV, April 12 ??“ President Viktor Yushchenko suggested Wednesday he may accept Yulia Tymoshenko as the next prime minister, but insisted the coalition must first agree on key foreign policy and economic reform issues.

???I don??™t have any objections against any candidate,??? Yushchenko said at a press conference. ???My position will not be formed based on emotions, but on whether we have clear answers in a plan of actions of the future coalition.???

Yushchenko was so far thought to be lukewarm over idea of nominating Tymoshenko as the prime minister following a major split between them in September 2005.

Yushchenko fired Tymoshenko from the post of the prime minister after her party activists attacked Yushchenko??™s allies with unsubstantiated corruption allegations, triggering a major government crisis.

But Tymoshenko??™s party beat Yushchenko??™s Our Ukraine at the general election on March 26 and is now expected to control more lawmakers than Our Ukraine and Socialist Party, its two partners, combined.

Yushchenko??™s comment suggests that Tymoshenko was increasingly likely to become the prime minister, especially after her party had agreed to several important concessions in talks with Our Ukraine on Monday.

First, Tymoshenko agreed to work out a foreign policy and economic reform agreement that will be signed by all coalition partners as had been demanded by Yushchenko.

Tymoshenko also promised not to challenge Yushchenko at the presidential election in 2009 if the coalition agreement is signed with Our Ukraine and the Socialist Party.

Yushchenko said he was happy with a progress made by three parties on the coalition agreement and stressed that a detailed plan of actions by the future government was a must.

Yosyp Vinskiy, one of Socialist Party leaders, said a preliminary coalition agreement involving Our Ukraine, Tymoshenko group and Socialist Party is scheduled to be signed on Thursday.

The groups have been holding talks on the agreement since Monday.

The coalition between Our Ukraine, the Tymoshenko bloc and the Socialist Party would control 243 seats in 450-seat Parliament, enough to form the government.

The newly elected lawmakers are expected to have their first session in mid-May. But the opening could be pushed back by a court challenge to the election results brought by the People's Opposition, a radical pro-Russian group that narrowly missed the 3% minimum needed to enter parliament. (tl/ez)