New Ukrainian parliament will be more radical

Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who offered his resignation to the country's parliament on July 24 as the ruling coalition broke up, yesterday changed his mind and decided to remain in office. The head of the cabinet called on lawmakers to back government-sponsored bills on budget sequester and reform of the state-run Naftogas oil and gas company, saying that otherwise Ukraine's cooperation with the IMF will be sabotaged. "I have just talked to the heads of the World Bank and the IMF and would like to suggest these bills. I am calling on all MPs to vote for these bills on Thursday," Yatsenyuk is quoted as saying by RBC-Ukraine.

It is not clear whether Yatsenyuk will remain in office after July 31st.

Deputy head of the CIS Department of the Russian State University for the Humanities Alexander Gushchin believes the Yatsenyuk's resignation is closely connected to the coming early parliamentary elections. "I believe that prospects for the Fatherland party and Yulia Tymoshenko are not so great. The party's rating and Tymoshenko's rating are relatively small. I don't think this situation is likely to change in the very near future. Moreover, one should bear in mind that the conflict between President Poroshenko and another tycoon Igor Kolomoysky may escalate. Kolomoysky reportedly has ties with the Fatherland party's leadership. These issues will determine the future of the campaign. It's seems now that the president has a chance to strengthen his position," he said.

Gushchin believes that the intensification of the military operation in Eastern Ukraine is aimed at securing successful parliamentary elections. "The reason is not their desire to conduct an investigation into the Boeing-777 case, but to control this territory in order to hold elections there. The president wants to look like a liberator, a hero," the expert says.

The Communist party and the Party of Regions have almost collapsed, Gushchin says. "The Party of Regions has been in a state of deep crisis ever since the Maidan. The Communist Party could have collected some votes in the East, but the party is experiencing real pressure. The East now has no representation in the country's politics. I believe that the new parliament will be more radical," he says.