Ukrainian President Viktor Yush-chenko was faced with a tough new political rival yesterday after sacked prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko broke with the "orange revolution" leader ahead of a key election.
Tymoshenko's announcement that she would participate in upcoming parliamentary elections separately from Yushchenko following her dismissal broke apart the "orange revolution" dream team that assumed power less than a year ago.
It also dealt a major blow to the Ukrainian leader ahead of a crucial parliamentary vote next March.
PHOTO: AP
"Today we are definitely two different teams and these two teams will go their separate ways," the charismatic Tymoshenko said on a live television talk show late on Friday, a day after Yushchenko sacked her government.
Ukraine's upcoming legislative election will redraw the nation's political landscape and Yushchenko needs to score a decisive win in order to continue the pro-Western course that he has set for the ex-Soviet nation.
Now the Ukrainian president and his allies will face the poll with a powerful new rival. The 44-year-old petite and pretty "Lady Yu" is known for her iron will and, as one analyst put it, "is most effective when in opposition."
She also enjoys widespread popular support -- during the "orange revolution" her speeches fired up the crowds and roaring chants of "Yulia!" were heard alongside those of "Yu-shchen-ko!"
Although Tymoshenko said there would be no "war" between her and Yushchenko during the parliamentary election campaign, the rest of her statement seemed to point otherwise.
She accused the president's close circle of scheming to get her fired ever since her appointment as head of government in early February and charged that several close presidential advisors were guilty of corruption.
She said she had "forgiven" Yushchenko, but did little to hide her bitterness with the Ukrainian president.
"With his decision he ... destroyed our unity ... our future and the future of the country," she said.
Tymoshenko heads a block in the Ukrainian parliament that currently has 40 seats in the 450-member Upper Rada.
"I am counting that during the elections, in which we will participate absolutely separately, our political force will achieve a worthy result in order to continue to set the nation's policies," she said.
Yushchenko sacked his Cabinet on Thursday in a bid to quash a deepening corruption scandal sparked by a simmering battle for power between Tymoshenko and the powerful former chief of the National Security Council, Petro Poroshenko.
He named a trusted ally, Yury Yekhanurov, as acting premier. The 57-year-old liberal economist has been huddling with political party leaders and outgoing ministers in talks on forming a new government.
Yushchenko has pledged that the new government will continue with the reform policies that he set out at his inauguration in January, assuring European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso in a phone conversation on Friday that the pro-Western course would stay on track.
The appointment of Yekhanurov, a long-time Yushchenko ally with extensive experience in the executive branch who is not known for harboring political ambitions, was welcomed across Ukraine's political spectrum and by investors.
The military is to begin conscripting civilians next year, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said yesterday, citing rising tensions with Thailand as the reason for activating a long-dormant mandatory enlistment law. The Cambodian parliament in 2006 approved a law that would require all Cambodians aged 18 to 30 to serve in the military for 18 months, although it has never been enforced. Relations with Thailand have been tense since May, when a long-standing territorial dispute boiled over into cross-border clashes, killing one Cambodian soldier. “This episode of confrontation is a lesson for us and is an opportunity for us to review, assess and
The Russian minister of foreign affairs warned the US, South Korea and Japan against forming a security partnership targeting North Korea as he visited the ally country for talks on further solidifying their booming military and other cooperation. Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov spoke on Saturday in Wonsan City, North Korea, where he met North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un and conveyed greetings from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kim during the meeting reaffirmed his government’s commitment to “unconditionally support and encourage all measures” taken by Russia in its conflict with Ukraine. Pyongyang and Moscow share identical views on “all strategic issues in
IDENTITY: A sex extortion scandal involving Thai monks has deeply shaken public trust in the clergy, with 11 monks implicated in financial misconduct Reverence for the saffron-robed Buddhist monkhood is deeply woven into Thai society, but a sex extortion scandal has besmirched the clergy and left the devout questioning their faith. Thai police this week arrested a woman accused of bedding at least 11 monks in breach of their vows of celibacy, before blackmailing them with thousands of secretly taken photos of their trysts. The monks are said to have paid nearly US$12 million, funneled out of their monasteries, funded by donations from laypeople hoping to increase their merit and prospects for reincarnation. The scandal provoked outrage over hypocrisy in the monkhood, concern that their status
‘FALSE NARRATIVE’: China and the Solomon Islands inked a secretive security pact in 2022, which is believed to be a prelude to building a Chinese base, which Beijing denied The Australian government yesterday said it expects China to spy on major military drills it is conducting with the US and other allies. It also renewed a charge — denounced by Beijing as a “false narrative” — that China wants to establish a military base in the South Pacific. The comments by a government minister came as Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made a six-day visit to China to bolster recently repaired trade ties. More than 30,000 military personnel from 19 nations are set to join in the annual Talisman Sabre exercises from yesterday across Australia and Papua New Guinea. “The Chinese military have
RSS