Ukraine leader sacks government
Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko has sacked his government in a move that may mark the end of the coalition that won the Orange Revolution.
He said in-fighting between members of the team had paralysed the government, affecting the basics of state policy.
Correspondents say Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and the head of the Security and Defence Council, Petro Poroshenko, were at loggerheads from the start.
Mr Poroshenko quit earlier on Thursday, following allegations of corruption.
President Viktor Yushchenko Mr Yushchenko appointed Russian-born economist Yuri Yekhanurov, currently governor of the eastern region of Dnipropetrovsk, as prime minister.
Deputy Prime Minister Mykola Tomenko also resigned on Thursday, while presidential chief of staff Oleksandr Zinchenko resigned on Saturday.
Both made allegations of corruption within the government.
'No trust'
The Orange Revolution that brought Mr Yushchenko to power was fuelled partly by popular anger over the corruption of the previous government headed by President Leonid Kuchma.
Mr Yushchenko won the final vote and took office in January. A coalition government including ministers from his Our Ukraine party, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and the Socialist Party, was formed the next month.
"Chairing meetings, I saw that my partners had absolutely no trust in each other. Nil," he told a press conference on Thursday.
"Every day, I saw more evidence that these institutions were locked in confrontation... Then there were behind-the-scenes intrigues against each other. This began to affect the basics of state policy."
Ukraine faces parliamentary elections in March 2006, and some observers have speculated that the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc could run against Our Ukraine, instead of continuing their electoral pact.
Mr Poroshenko, a member of Our Ukraine, was disappointed when Ms Tymoshenko was appointed prime minister.
Both are millionaires. Ms Tymoshenko accumulated a fortune in the gas distribution sector, while Mr Poroshenko owns chocolate factories as well as other businesses.
Disillusionment
Earlier, Mr Tomenko said he did not want to bear "collective responsibility" for corruption in Mr Yushchenko's team.
"I have realised that some people steal and others resign," he told a news conference.
Mr Poroshenko, who has denied allegations of corruption, said he was stepping down so as not to obstruct an official investigation.
After the sacking of the government, Ukraine's state security (SBU) chief Oleksander Turchinov, an ally of Ms Tymoshenko, also tendered his resignation.
Mr Yushchenko himself has also come in for strong criticism in recent weeks for trying to block a journalist's investigation into his son's alleged life of luxury.
The disarray within the government, including its failure to agree on a list of dubious privatisations carried out by the last government, has led to considerable popular disillusionment.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4225566.stm
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