Candidate for Ukrainian PM could be named on Feb 20 - Party of Regions
KYIV. Feb 18 (Interfax) - The parliamentary faction of the Party of Regions has held a meeting of its own prior to the start of Verkhovna Rada plenary week, Party of Regions faction representative Elbrus Tedeyev said.
When asked by reporters whether the candidate for the prime minister was discussed at the faction meeting on Tuesday, Tedeyev said: "No, we have not talked about this."
When asked when the candidate could be expected, another Deputy of the Party of Regions Anna German said: "I suppose this will be on Thursday."
The candidate for the prime minister has not been discussed and no surnames of possible candidates have been voiced at the Party of Regions meeting, presidential representative in the Verkhovna Rada, deputy of the Party of Regions Yuriy Myroshnychenko said.
Presidential administration head Andriy Kluyev attended the meeting as well, Myroshnychenko said.
"He said that for now no recommendations exist, thus, we cannot talk about the prime minister and he further urged the faction to hold talks with the opposition regarding the amendments to the Constitution," Myroshnychenko told reporters following the faction meeting.
If the Ukrainian government is headed by a pro-Russian prime minister, another wave of resistance will emerge, leader of the Batkivschyna party Arseniy Yatseniuk said.
"We are aware that they insist on a pro-Russian prime minister, who will satisfy solely our Eastern partners but will not satisfy the Ukrainian people," Yatseniuk told reporters on Tuesday.
Yatseniuk has refused to name the possible candidates being considered for the position of prime minister.
"We will see who exactly, when [Ukrainian President] Viktor Yanukovych nominates the candidate and next wave of resistance occurs in Ukraine yet again," Yatseniuk said.