The country's outgoing cabinet resigned today at the opening of the session, with pro-Western and pro-Russian parties still deadlocked over the formation of a new, coalition government.
Addressing the 450-member chamber, President Viktor Yushchenko called for a government "made up of those who, as a single team, will ensure Ukraine's development on the basis of European values, who are capable of consolidating the nation, stimulating economic reforms, and respecting the rights and freedoms of the people."
Parties behind the Orange Revolution of 2004 have been unable to agree on who should be the new prime minister, with Yushchenko's Our Ukraine bloc reluctant to back former Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko, whose bloc finished second in the elections.
The pro-Russia Party of the Regions of defeated presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych received the most votes in the elections, but too few to form a government on its own.
(AFP/AP)
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