Ukraine creates new ruling coalition, gets new PM

By ANNA MELNICHUK, Associated Press Writer Anna Melnichuk, Associated Press Writer – 14 mins ago

Mykola Azarov, who served as Yanukovych‘s campaign strategist in this year‘s presidential elections, was chosen as premier. The move ends the long-running rivalry between Ukraine‘s head of state — Yanukovych — and its head of government, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who Yanukovych beat in the presidential race.

Tymoshenko, an avid critic of Yanukovych, was ousted March 3 in a no-confidence vote after her Orange coalition fell. She and former President Viktor Yushchenko, who together led the Orange Revolution protests that brought Yushchenko to power in 2004, have said they will remain in opposition against Azarov‘s government.

Azarov was first deputy prime minister when Yanukovych held the premiership between 2006 and 2007. Born and educated in Russia, Azarov is seen as a staunch supporter of Yanukovych and his Kremlin-friendly policies, and is known for his vocal attacks against the Orange government and Tymoshenko in particular.

On Thursday, Azarov pledged to root out corruption and tackle the economic turmoil that has plagued Ukraine during the political wrangling of the past few years.

Before forming the new governing coalition, Yanukovych signed a new law allowing individual deputies to break away from their parliamentary factions, which allowed his coalition to eventually control 235 of the chamber‘s 450 seats.

Tymoshenko, whose supporters have vowed to challenge the law in court, told a televised news conference Thursday that the creation of the new government "proves our country has no guarantor of the constitution."

Tammy Lynch, a research fellow at Boston University‘s Institute for the Study of Conflict, Ideology & Policy, said the move sends worrying signals about Yanukovych‘s "intention to honor the law and respect the nascent democracy he inherited."

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