Tymoshenko Elected Ukraine PM

On second try, Orange Revolution leader wins ballot by a whisker
Posted Dec 18, 2007 8:06 AM CST
Tymoshenko Elected Ukraine PM
Ukraine's Yulia Tymoshenko celebrates after she was elected prime minister in Ukraine's parliament in Kiev, Ukraine, Tuesday, Dec. 18. 2007. Tymoshenko got 226 votes the bare majority need in the 450-member parliament from deputies in her bloc and the party of President Viktor Yushchenko. Tymoshenko...   (Associated Press)

Ukraine's parliament elected Orange Revolution leader Yulia Tymoshenko as prime minister today. The pro-Western leader and fiery orator won 226 votes, the exact number needed to take office, after coming up one vote short last week, Reuters reports. Tymoshenko promises to try to open Ukraine to the West and wants to see her country join the EU and NATO.

Tymoshenko, who with President Victor Yushchenko led the peaceful 2004 revolution that pushed the Russian-backed government from office, served as prime minister in 2005, but she fell out with the president and was eventually sacked. Now leading her own blocs, Tymoshenko has once again won Yushchenko's backing, and their two "orange" parties together won Ukraine's recent election. (More Ukraine stories.)

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