New prime minister for ukraine
19/12/07
Published in The New York Times
By: C. J. Chivers
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Yulia Tymoshenko, the former opposition politician who helped lead the peaceful street protests that overturned a rigged presidential election three years ago, was approved by Parliament as Ukraine’s new prime minister.
Ms. Tymoshenko, who held the same post in 2005 before a falling out with President Viktor Yushchenko, received the minimum 226 ballots in the 450-seat chamber in a vote that her opponents boycotted but Mr. Yushchenko, with whom she has reconciled, supported.
Her victory ended for the moment an impasse over forming a government that had persisted since elections in September. The narrow margin, however, suggested that she would face a strong opposition led by Viktor Yanukovich, the outgoing premier.
