The three
oppositional parties, which have a total of 178 out of the 445 filled seats in
parliament, managed to block most of the pro-presidential Party of Regions
initiatives. The oppositionists also persistently contested the forming of a
Communist Party faction of 33 deputies in parliament on technicalities,
highlighting the divisions within the new parliament and how difficult it will
be to find consensus.

Meanwhile, outside, Femen -- the famous group of topless female protesters -- took off their clothes in front of the Rada to protest against the incompetence and corruption of the nation's lawmakers. The demonstrators were quickly arrested and carried away from police officers.

Ukraine's
legislature has 450 seats in total, but five still remain vacant until new
elections take place in disputed districts, sometime in 2013.

The
swearing-in ceremony at the Rada looked like a high-life event: the hall was
packed with lawmakers, diplomats and swarms of reporters. Even a church leader
attended. Two deputies who did not grace the previous parliament with their
presence very often – businessman Yuriy Ivaniushchenko from the Party of
Regions and Kostyantyn Zhevago, formerly from the imprisoned Yulia Tymoshenko’s
Batkivshchyna faction – showed up for the ceremony. Ivaniushchenko told reporters
that this time he will come to parliament more frequently.

When asked
by the Kyiv Post what faction he is going to ally with in the new parliament
and whether he would support the candidacy of Mykola Azarov as prime minister,
the 38-year-old billionaire Zhevago remained tight-lipped. Zhevago also promised not to skip plenary sessions this time.