Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko Thursday nominated Yulia
Tymoshenko as the new prime minister, the presidential office said
in a statement.
"The president has submitted Tymoshenko's nomination to
parliament for approval," the statement said.
New parliamentary speaker Arseniy Yatsenyuk said the legislature
would vote on Tymoshenko's candidacy in five days in accordance
with parliamentary regulations.
Tymoshenko, 47, is one of the most popular figures in Ukraine.
Her party garnered 156 parliament seats out of a total of 450 in
September's election.
The elections were held on September 30 to resolve a long-term
conflict between pro-west President Yushchenko and Russian-leaning
Prime Minister Victor Yanukovych. Yanukovych announced his
resignation on Nov. 23 after the new parliament was sworn in.
Yanukovych's Regions Party now is the parliament's biggest
group, but is without enough seats to enable it to independently
form a government.
Tymoshenko's bloc and the Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense
party led by Yushchenko formed a majority coalition in parliament
on Nov. 29, and decided Tuesday to nominate Tymoshenko for prime
minister.
Yushchenko's party and Tymoshenko's bloc came into power in the
"Orange" revolution at the end of 2004, during which Yanukovych
lost his job as prime minister. Yanukovych was once again appointed
as prime minister by Yushchenko in August, 2006.
Tymoshenko acted as prime minister from February, 2005, but was
dismissed from the position by Yushchenko seven months later due to
fierce disputes between the two.
She is still widely regarded as a potential rival for Yushchenko
in the presidential elections in 2009.
(Xinhua News Agency December 7, 2007)
