The parliamentary faction of the Communist Party does not intend to support the candidacy of Parliamentary Deputy Ivan Pliusch of the Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense bloc if he is nominated for the post of Parliament Speaker.

The Communist Party faction's leader Petro Symonenko announced this to journalists after the leaders of parliamentary factions met with the leadership of the parliament.

"We will not support the candidacy of Pliusch no matter what negotiations [are held] and no matter who tries to hold them. That is clear," Symonenko said.

He stressed that the Communist Party will not join any parliamentary coalition that includes nationalist forces, as the party has already stated.

Commenting on the intention of the Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense bloc to nominate Pliusch for the post of Parliament Speaker, Symonenko expressed the belief that the parliamentary factions of the Party of the Regions and the Our Ukraine People's Union party had already reached agreement on formation of a parliamentary majority.

"It seems to me that [the Party of the Regions] and Our Ukraine have reached agreement," Symonenko said.

He declined to say whether the Communist Party would support the candidacy of the Party of the Regions' leader Viktor Yanukovych if he was nominated for the post of Parliament Speaker. He stressed that Yanukovych's candidacy has not been submitted to the parliament for consideration.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, Deputy Parliament Speaker Mykola Tomenko, who is one of the leaders of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, has forecast that the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc would refuse to support the candidacy of Pliusch if he is nominated for the post of Parliament Speaker.

The Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense bloc plans to nominate Pliusch for the post of Parliament Speaker.

Pliusch announced in late November that he favored formation of a parliamentary coalition with the participation of the parliamentary faction of the Party of the Regions.