Tymoshenko's Government Set to Fall

The coalition of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (BYT) and President Viktor Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine--People’s Self-Defense (NUNS) no longer has a majority in the Ukrainian parliament. Two deputies quit the coalition, so it controls 225 seats in the 450-seat chamber, one seat short of a majority. As a result, parliament has been paralyzed, and the fate of the Tymoshenko government is in the hands of Yushchenko and his team in parliament. Should even a small group from NUNS back a no-confidence motion against Tymoshenko, her government will be doomed.

So, how long? There are tons of people in NUNS that are really ticked at Tymoshenko. Many Ukrainians from the general populace are unhappy with her too. She's not improved the people's lives much at all. Inflation is, uh, nuts. One of our Ukrainian friends offered the idea that he'd set up a 'hotel' that would allow Americans to come to Ukraine to live as Ukrainians do for an extended time....with a total of $180/month for EVERYTHING.