Ukraine Has New Prime Minister

Almost three months after the parliamentary election in Ukraine, statesmen approved on Tuesday the new Cabinet of Ministers headed by Yulia Tymoshenko, a leader of the ‘orange revolution’.

The fact of the voting should be welcomed with heart and soul, as Kyiv will have to carry out urgent reforms in all the main sectors of the economy. Ukraine has for the first time seen the appearance of a government of parliamentary majority, which supports the pro-western platform of President Viktor Yuschenko. However, it would be reasonable not to expect too much from the new fragile administration. Tymoshenko will have to make efforts to achieve desired results.

Tymoshenko has regained the lost positions, achieving a triumphant victory in the election, in which she got ahead at the expense of Yuschenko’s supporters and asserted herself as a dominating force among the ‘orange’. Tymoshenko will be vying with Yuschenko in the presidential election of 2010 – and he is aware of it. Viktor Yanukovych, ex-premier, heading the largest opposition party, won’t miss a chance to put spokes in the wheels of the new government. It is possible that he won’t even need much effort for this. Tymoshenko and Yuschenko together have only 228 mandates in the 450-seat parliament – once they lose three mandates there will be no majority anymore. Fortunately, the gap between political lines of Yuschenko and Tymoshenko has narrowed since 2005. The current Premier has got closer to the presidential west-oriented platform, in particular, in the issues of integration into the European Union and NATO. Tymoshenko has mitigated her attacks on business, but, as before, is firmly intent to fight against corruption.

Such tasks as curbing of corruption, elimination of bureaucratic obstacles, completion of privatization and reforming the nontransparent energy sector are to become the priorities of the economic policy. WTO entry, over which Yuschenko’s team has been working for so long, will now become a reality.

For the West, the new Cabinet of Ministers will, probably become a partner more inclined towards cooperation, compared to Yanukovych’s administration, which was oriented mainly on Russia.

Tags: politics