Ukraine looks west as Tymoshenko wins shaky grip on power

Published on Tuesday 18 December 2007 21:07

YULIA Tymoshenko, the fiery and controversial heroine of the Ukraine's Orange Revolution, has been elected prime minister of the divided country – a move that could accelerate the former Soviet republic's push closer to the West.

The 47-year-old former entrepreneur was hailed by the United States as someone "we can now deal with".

But analysts warned the uneasy coalition between Ms Tymoshenko and the president, Viktor Yushchenko, might not last long. She got 226 votes – the bare majority needed in the 450-member parliament – from deputies in her bloc and the party of Ms Tymoshenko and the president formed a majority coalition after elections late last year, despite frequent tensions between the two.

Before the vote, Ms Tymoshenko vowed that the coalition would defend the country's national interests and implement reforms.

"You have real patriots in politics who will hold this flag up high and never drop it. This vote is a moment of truth for the democratic coalition," she said.

However, the opposition dominated by the Party of Regions, led by the pro-Russia former prime minister Viktor Yanukovych, is in a strong position to fight initiatives by the western-leaning coalition.

Loyalties switch frequently in Ukrainian politics, and an attempt to return Ms Tymoshenko to the premiership in 2006 derailed when a formerly allied party crossed over to join a coalition with the Party of Regions.

Party of Regions MP Hanna Herman predicted the coalition would not last long, saying "the earlier they come, the earlier they'll leave."

The Orange Revolution left her and Mr Yushchenko in deep opposition to Mr Yanukovych, who returned as prime minister in 2006.

Mr Yushchenko this year accused Mr Yanukovych of trying to usurp power and called early elections; his and Ms Tymoshenko's parties together racked up a narrow majority of seats in the September vote.

The vote was held by hand, and counting took more than an hour. The laborious procedure was held in the wake of last week's complaints that a vote on Ms Tymoshenko's nomination – in which she got only 225 votes – was invalid due to possible tampering with the parliament's vote-tallying machine.

US Ambassador William Taylor called Ms Tymoshenko's election a vote for reform."It's great to have a prime minister that we can now deal with, and we hope that this is the first step toward forming a reform-minded government."