Ukraine's leaders say dismissing PM not on the agenda

Reuters
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk attends a EU-Ukraine Association Council at the EU Council headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, December 7, 2015. REUTERS/Yves Herman

KIEV (Reuters) - The Ukrainian parliament should not consider dismissing Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk, the country's president, parliament's speaker and Yatseniuk said in joint statement on Tuesday, in which they called on lawmakers to work together to pass critical reform bills. Signs of deep divisions in Ukraine's pro-Europe coalition have fueled speculation Yatseniuk's government will fall, while the country's Western backers warn that time is running out for Kiev to make good on its promises to root out endemic corruption and cronyism. "Now more than ever we need unity, mutual support and ongoing collaboration between the president, the parliament and the government," President Petro Poroshenko said in the joint statement with Yatseniuk and Speaker Volodymyr Groysman. "The question of changing the prime minister is not on the agenda." The call for political unity comes amid disagreement in parliament over critical tax reforms, which has delayed disbursing up to $4 billion in international financial assistance for this year. An extraordinary parliamentary session has been called for Thursday to address the tax amendments and draft a 2016 budget.Poroshenko, Yatseniuk and Groysman called on lawmakers to support the bills. "The interests of Ukraine must be placed above all else, political passions must be calmed and political culture demonstrated that is worthy of a European country," the joint statement said. Last week, a brawl broke out in parliament between different factions in the pro-Europe coalition, days after U.S. Vice President Joe Biden urged parliament to put its differences aside to approve reforms. Yatseniuk is, like Poroshenko, a pivotal player in the pro-Western leadership that emerged after the downfall of the Moscow-backed Viktor Yanukovich in February 2014. But support for him has fallen dramatically in the past year and opposition parties are calling for a no-confidence motion to be tabled. (Reporting by Alessandra Prentice, editing by Larry King)