by Anya Tsukanova
KIEV - Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych submitted his resignation on Friday as a new parliament was sworn in and rival parties jostled to form a government after September elections.
Yanukovych formally gave up his powers at an inaugural parliament session in this former Soviet republic that lies sandwiched between giant neighbour Russia and the countries of the European Union.
"I announce the renunciation of the powers of the Ukrainian government," Yanukovych said at the ceremony.
His likely replacement, Yulia Tymoshenko, looked on, flanked by fellow party members, all dressed in the party's uniform of a white v-necked jumper.
After all 450 members of parliament were sworn in, the two parties that have provisionally agreed to form a coalition -- the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and President Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine-Self Defence -- began collecting signatures from their members assenting to the plan.
A spokeswoman for the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, requesting anonymity, told AFP that a coalition deal could be reached as early as Friday.
Ukraine held snap elections on September 30 in an effort to resolve months of wrangling between Yushchenko, who supports full integration with the West, including the NATO military alliance, and the more pro-Russian Yanukovych.
Pro-Western political forces took a narrow lead in the election, although Yanukovych's Regions Party took the most votes overall.
The proposed "Orange Coalition" of Tymoshenko's bloc and Our Ukraine-Self Defence have in principal 228 seats out of the total 450.
The two parties spearheaded a peaceful uprising known as the Orange Revolution in 2004.
If such a coalition were formed, Tymoshenko, a former prime minister under Yushchenko, would probably return to the post.
Earlier Yushchenko called for Yanukovych's Regions party to be included but he then appeared to row back from that position.
Towards the close of Friday the Interfax news agency reported that eight members of Our Ukraine-Self Defence had not signed the coalition agreement, which is a precursor to a confirmation vote in parliament.
Relations between the president and Tymoshenko broke down within months of him coming to power in 2005, while critics took her to task as prime minister for a series of populist economic measures.
In a newspaper article published on Friday the deputy head of Tymoshenko's bloc, Alexander Turchinov, hinted at a likely presidential bid in 2010 or 2011 by Tymoshenko, whose popularity ratings far exceed Yushchenko's.
"We are not afraid of any elections," he told the newspaper "2000", adding that he hoped Yushchenko would be "reasonable" and go ahead with forming a coalition.
ant/njc/cb/ag
11/23/2007 17:20 GMT