Ukrainian President's Party Lures Lawmakers Amid Coalition Talks
- Independent deputy joined Poroshenko's party Wednesday
- Parties of president, premier need 7 more seats for majority
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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s party has begun luring independent lawmakers to form a new ruling coalition and end the nation’s worst political crisis in two years.
Iryna Suslova, formerly of the Samopomich party, joined Poroshenko’s party Wednesday, parliament’s first deputy speaker, Andriy Parubiy, said in the capital, Kiev. Talks are being conducted with “at least seven more lawmakers,” Mustafa Nayem, a member of the president’s party, said on Twitter. Poroshenko has 138 deputies in the 450-seat legislature, while Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has 81. They’ve so far been unable to ally with a third party to form a majority.