Ukraine's political crisis deepens with call to oust ministers

KIEV, Ukraine, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called on his embattled prime minister and prosecutor general to resign Tuesday.

In a statement published on the presidential website, Poroshenko said he attempted to persuade Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin to resign amid criticism that he has not dealt with the government's corruption and has postponed reforms and criminal prosecutions of suspects high in government.

Shokin's deputy, Vitaly Kasko, resigned Monday.

"The prosecutor general, unfortunately, wasn't able to win the support of society. So now the issue of the resignation of the prosecutor general is on the agenda," Poroshenko wrote.

Ukraine's financial backers have lost patience with the country's ongoing issues with government graft, and last week Christine Lagarde, director of the International Monetary Fund, said the bailout of Ukraine could end if internal infighting does not stop.

Members of Poroshenko's political party in the Rada, the Ukrainian parliament, said Monday they are collecting signatures to force a no-confidence vote against Shokin and the unpopular Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. The vote could come as early as Tuesday, but Samopomich, a coalition party in the Rada and one of four parties in the coalition leading the parliament, said a March vote is more likely.

Yatsenyuk's coalition party, the People's Front, has plunged in popularity from being the second-largest in Ukraine, behind Poroshenko's Social Democratic Party, to just 1 percent in the polls.

The resignations, if they come, could further destabilize Ukraine. Lawmakers could dismiss the government, which would trigger new elections, Ukraine's fourth round in two years. The country remains suffering economically after an 18-month recession, and maintains a fragile military truce with Russia on its eastern border.