Ukrainian lawmakers have formed a new coalition around the party of the nation's new president, allowing him to quickly name a loyal prime minister and consolidate power, according to AP. Parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn says his bloc and the communists pooled together Thursday in a coalition with President Viktor Yanukovych's Party of Regions. Yanukovych's staunch ally Mykola Azarov is expected to be appointed the new prime minister. The previous majority coalition was led by Yanukovych's rival, Yulia Tymoshenko, who was dismissed as premier earlier this month after losing February's presidential election. The forming of the coalition followed the approval of constitutional amendments that allowed individual deputies to abandon their factions in parliament.
