Ukrainian parliament dismisses foreign, health and education ministers, authorizes speaker to act as president

08:45, 24.02.2014 1 min read

Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, dismissed acting Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara on Sunday.

Kozhara's dismissal was backed by 237 of the 333 registered parliamentary deputies, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported.

MPs also dismissed acting Health Minister Raisa Bohatyriova. Bohatyriova's dismissal was backed by 287 of the 335 registered parliamentary deputies.

Acting Education and Science Minister Dmytro Tabachnyk was dismissed with 236 votes from MPs in favor of his dismissal.

At the same time, the Ukrainian parliament authorized its speaker Oleksandr Turchynov to perform the Ukrainian president's duties. This decision scored 285 votes out of 339 MPs registered in the session hall for voting on Sunday.

Turchynov will act as president until a newly elected president starts performing his or her duties. The early presidential election is scheduled for May 25, 2014.