Spotlight: Ukrainian prime minister resigns, gov't dissolution ahead

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk on Sunday announced his resignation, paving the way for government dissolution amid the country's lingering political crisis.

Yatsenyuk pledged to submit his resignation to parliament on Tuesday. If the parliament accepts the resignation, the government will be subsequently dissolved.

"I have decided to resign from the post of the prime minister of Ukraine," Yatsenyuk said in the program "10 minutes with the prime minister" aired on Ukrainian TV channels.

As the main reason for stepping down, Yatsenyuk cited the ongoing political crisis in the country that started in late 2015.

"The political crisis in the country has been orchestrated artificially. The desire to change one person has made politicians blind and paralyzed their will for a real change. The process of change of the government has become a mindless running on the spot," Yatsenyuk said.

The prime minister said in a twitter message that the core of Ukraine's problems is "not purely political. It is ethical."

He also said his "goals are broader: a new electoral law, the constitutional reform, the judicial reform, and Ukraine's membership in the EU and NATO."

Yatsenyuk's decision to resign came two months after he survived a no-confidence vote. His support rate dropped sharply in March for his failure to keep the state institutions functioning smoothly, and his perceived inability to tackle corruption and stabilize the economy.

Yatsenyuk, 41, served as Ukraine's economy minister, foreign minister, and parliament speaker between 2005 and 2008. He came to power in February 2014 after protesters toppled the previous government.

Yatsenyuk played a critical role in helping push through austerity measures required by the International Monetary Fund in exchange for an 17.5-billion-U.S. dollar rescue plan.

It was now very hard for Ukraine to get the urgent fund vital to restart its economy which shrank by nearly 10 percent last year.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde had said after the February no-confidence vote that she could not see how lending to Ukraine could continue with the government in such a state of disarray. < President Petro Poroshenko said Sunday after the prime minister announced his intention to resign that he expected forming a coalition in the parliament on Tuesday.

"I'm waiting for that no later than the next week, preferably on Tuesday, (and) we will see the creation of a coalition in the Verkhovna Rada (parliament)," Poroshenko told reporters.

The president mentioned the possible candidacy of current Verkhovna Rada Chairman Vladimir Groysman as the new prime minister. Endit