Ukraine's political circus made an unwelcome return to centre stage as bickering lawmakers struggled today to avert a crisis of their own making after Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk resigned in a huff.
As the country battles a bloody pro-Russian insurgency in the east amid international attention over the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 and teeters on the brink of bankruptcy, analysts said the last thing Ukraine needed was a bout of political limbo.
But that's exactly what the politicians seem to have landed themselves in after Yatsenyuk dramatically quit yesterday in protest at the collapse of the ruling European Choice coalition, a move that paved the way for long-awaited parliamentary polls to be announced.
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"It is wrong in a situation of war to do such a thing," political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko told Interfax Ukraine news agency. "Any crack in our unity will be exploited by Russia."
President Petro Poroshenko today asked lawmakers to pass a vote of confidence in the government.
"I hope that the strong emotions will calm down and be trumped by cold reason and a sense of responsibility and that the entire Ukrainian cabinet will continue its work," Poroshenko said.
But lawmakers were left scratching their heads over the way ahead as speaker Oleksandr Turchynov said a confidence vote was illegal and parliament broke up without discussing the issue.
In the meantime, some insisted that Yatsenyuk was still in charge, while Ukraine's cabinet elevated deputy prime minister Volodymyr Groysman -- who has been coordinating Kiev's response to the downing of Malaysian flight MH17 in east Ukraine -- to the post of acting premier.
Pro-Western Yatsenyuk -- who helped steer the country through the biggest upheaval since its independence in 1991 -- lashed out at the decision to pull the plug on the coalition as Kiev is struggling to end a bloody pro-Russian insurrection tearing apart the east.
His unexpected decision to step down sparked a slanging match between the former coalition partners -- with the Fatherland party of ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko describing the possible fall of the government as a "punch in the back of all patriots" that would be welcomed by the Kremlin.
"Between peace and chaos, Ukraine unfortunately is choosing political chaos," the party said.
