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| Europe |
| Ukraine's Tymoshenko withdraws election appeal |
| 2010-02-21 |
| Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko withdrew her appeal case against the elections results from the Supreme Administrative court and the court has closed the case. But she has not conceded. She said once again that Viktor Yanukovich will never be considered Ukraine's legitimately elected president. This is in stark contrast to her fellow Orange Revolutionary - incumbent Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko. On Saturday he finally congratulated his long-time rival, Mr Yanukovich, on a legitimate victory. Sergei Mishchenko, an MP from Mrs Tymoshenko's party, has said their party is planning to boycott the inauguration ceremony scheduled for 25 February. He also added Mrs Tymoshenko is not giving in, she will not recognise the elections results and she will continue to work as prime minister. Mr Yanukovich has asked Mrs Tymoshenko to step down from her post on several occasions. And she has said that she will not. As president, Mr Yanukovich does not have the right to fire or to appoint a prime minister - that is up to Ukraine's parliament. At the moment Mrs Tymoshenko's party is still part of the parliamentary coalition, but negotiations are under way to form a new coalition based on Mr Yanukovich's Regions Party. One of the leaders of the Regions Party, Nikolai Azarov, speaking to Ukrainian TV channel Inter, said it was fantastic to even consider the possibility of Mrs Tymoshenko remaining in her post for much longer. But no-one here in Ukraine thinks it will be an easy task to remove her. Once MPs form a new coalition they are likely to vote Mrs Tymoshenko's government out, but until a new government is formed - and that can take weeks in the current political situation - Mrs Tymoshenko will remain as acting prime minister under President Yanukovich. Analysts agree that little will be achieved in those weeks, and the country will remain in limbo. If coalition talks fail, Ukrainians will have to vote once again - in early parliamentary elections. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 Would it be possible to implement a rule that no more storys be run about Yulia unless a photo of the subject accompanies...? Pretty please...? |
| Posted by: Uncle Phester 2010-02-21 16:49 |