December 11 Ukrainian Parliament Vote - PM/Cabinet

As Ukraine's government begins to take shape, Verkhovna Rada Speaker Arseniy Yatsenyuk declared that on Tuesday, December 11, Parliament will vote on the candidacy of Yulia Tymoshenko for Prime Minister. The Party of Regions has stated they will support Tymoshenko as Prime Minister if she garners enough votes to win the position. Yatsenyuk also said that voting on a new cabinet can also take place on Tuesday, if the nominations are submitted by that time.

Also of interest, Tymoshenko announced that the Lytvyn Bloc and Communist Party will be given first choice of committees, without competition. The Party of Regions will also be given an opportunity to select committees. Tymoshenko also proposed bilateral talks between all political groups to coordinate the candidacy of the Rada's First Deputy Chairman. It appears that the "Orange" forces favor Adam Martynyuk, but Tymoshenko said they would vote for whoever is nominated by the minority.

It is nice to see that Tymoshenko is allowing all factions to participate in the government. It should be noted however, that she did not want opposition members in positions of great authority. Of course, right now most of this is just talk, but I am very pleased to see Ukraine's government come together and have all sides apparently working together.