Yulia Tymoshenko has been appointed Ukraine's new Prime Minister. Can she overcome a history of alienating opponents and allies to lead her country into the future?

On December 18, 2007, by a vote of 226-0, Orange Revolution leader Yulia Tymoshenko was elected by Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada as the country’s next Prime Minister. The 226 votes were the absolute minimum required to win the appointment. All pro-Russian opposition members boycotted the vote, and one "Orange" coalition member abstained.

History of Alienating Supporters and Opposition

Tymoshenko’s troubles began in 2005 during her short, seven-month first term as Ukraine’s Prime Minister. Her impassioned speeches during the 2004 Orange Revolution helped fuel protests and win the presidency for ally Viktor Yushchenko. However, the same fiery rhetoric and lack of diplomacy as Prime Minister caused problems with her allies, resentment amongst the opposition, and fueled diminishing relations with Russia. She further angered opponents by attempting to extinguish organized crime and corruption. In response to growing pressure, Tymoshenko was fired, and Yushchenko made opponent Viktor Yanukovych the new Prime Minister.

Reforming an Old Alliance

In the aftermath of Ukraine's 2007 Parliamentary election, Tymoshenko and Yushchenko put their differences aside. Together, they re-joined the democratic "Orange" forces of Our Ukraine People's Self-Defense Bloc (OU-PSD) and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (BYuT), gaining a narrow majority in Parliament. A formal agreement has been signed, but the union appears to be fragile at best, as the two groups support vastly different approaches to the same objectives.

2007 PM Nomination Troubles

After Parliament formally convened and selected a Speaker, Yushchenko nominated Tymoshenko for the office of Prime Minister. On December 11, Tymoshenko’s bid fell short, receiving only 225 votes, one short of the required majority. Rada Speaker Arseniy Yatsenyuk hastily called for a vote to reconsider the motion, but that also failed.

BYuT member Andriy Shevchenko claimed fraud, saying he personally observed the voting cards of BYuT member Ivan Denkovych and Our Ukraine People’s Self-Defense MP Oleksander Omelchenko fail to operate during the vote. Another BYuT member, Yaroslav Fedorchuk, experienced a similar problem when voting on Speaker Yatsenyuk’s request that the motion be reconsidered.

Ukraine's Secret Service was called in to investigate the charges of tampering with the automated voting machine, but found no evidence of foul play.

After the December 11 session, Tymoshenko commented that fraud was committed because the Party of Regions is afraid of the new authority, its new prosecutor general and interior minister who will verify the previous government’s questionable deeds.

Need to Prove Detractors Wrong

As Prime Minister, Tymoshenko will have to prove to both opponents and allies alike she is the right person to lead Ukraine into the future. Currently, she appears to have support, but the vultures are ready to circle. Yanukovych, leader of the Party of Regions, commented that Tymoshenko’s appointment will “exacerbate political instability, ferment confrontation inside society and cause very unfavorable effects on Ukraine’ s social and economic development.”

References

Ivanchenko, Anna (trans). "Tymoshenko Bloc Member Saw Fraud in 'Rada' System." Ukrayinska Pravda. December 11, 2007.

"Parliament to Vote Friday on Tymoshenko." Ukrainian Journal. December 14, 2007.

"Verkhovna Rada did not support Tymoshenko for post of Prime Minister." Unian News Agency. December 11, 2007.

"Voting cards of lawmakers failed to operate during voting for Tymoshenko as PM." Unian News Agency. December 11, 2007.

“Yanukovich predicts more crises in Ukraine.” ITAR-TASS News Agency. December 18, 2007.

Zawadzki, Sabina. "Tymoshenko's past haunts bid for Ukraine's PM post." Reuters UK. December 14, 2007.