Nearly three months after Ukraine's March 2006 parliamentary elections, the country still has no governing coalition, leaving an interim administration to manage daily affairs and parliament largely inactive.
The ongoing stalemate is weighing on the economy: the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development projected growth of just 2.8 percent for 2006, and domestic analysts warned inflation could exceed 10 percent by year's end.
President Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine party, holding 86 of 450 parliamentary seats, has broken off talks with its former Orange Revolution allies, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (129 seats) and the Socialist Party (33 seats), and is now considering alignment with the pro-Moscow Regions Party instead.
The uncertainty is also straining international ties. A planned visit by US President George W. Bush has been pushed back to at least July, and without parliamentary approval, military exercises with British forces have stalled and future US defense cooperation remains in question.
Adding to the pressure, a gas supply contract with Russia expires 31 June, raising the prospect of a repeat of January's supply cutoff over pricing disputes.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in June 2006, in its own words.