Political groups behind Ukraine's "Orange Revolution" Wednesday said they had clinched an agreement on a coalition government after nearly three months of talks and pledged to iron out the details quickly.

An agreement, if signed in the next few days, could consolidate the pro-Western policies championed by President Viktor Yushchenko since weeks of mass upheaval against election fraud in 2004 helped propel him to office.

Parties which stood behind Yushchenko, committed to nudging Ukraine towards European Union and NATO membership, have been at odds for nearly a year since he dismissed fiery Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. She now stands to get her job back.

"Last night, three political forces completed work on a text for a coalition agreement," Roman Bezsmertny of Yushchenko's Our Ukraine party told parliament referring to Our Ukraine, Tymoshenko's bloc and the smaller Socialist Party.

Tymoshenko, sacked after a turbulent eight months as premier, said only "technical formalities" had to be resolved. "I am certain that we will complete these formalities quickly and will soon be able to announce the formation of a democratic coalition," she told the chamber.

"The main basis we have set down is moving Ukraine into the European mainstream."

Anatoly Seminoga, a senior member of Tymoshenko's bloc, said agreement had been reached to reinstate Tymoshenko as prime minister as head of the assembly's largest "orange" group. Our Ukraine, he said, had been assigned the job of parliamentary speaker and would put forward a candidate.

Other party officials said Yushchenko would propose candidates for the defence and foreign ministries. Tymoshenko's bloc was pressing for the finance ministry and energy jobs.

Under new constitutional rules, the president has ceded many powers to parliament, which now chooses the prime minister.

Rows over jobs hindered talks to rebuild the unity of liberals since a March election in which the three parties won 243 of parliament's 450 seats. Yushchenko, still a key player, had long resisted Tymoshenko's return as premier.

The impasse has all but halted the work of parliament and hobbled government activity. A proposed visit by US President George W. Bush was postponed and military exercises with Western countries, requiring parliamentary approval, put on hold.

(China Daily June 22, 2006)