Cheating Moscow Stooge and Loser Makes Political Comeback

....aided by russian colonists in eastern Ukraine.

Yanukovich - Moskow's man - got the most votes in the Ukrainian
elections.
There's an irony here.. free elections allow flotsam to rise to the
top, while unfair elections mandates that flotsam like Yanukovich and
pootey always crowds the top.

For educational purposes:

"Heroine of the Orange revolution seeks return as Prime Minister
By Andrew Osborn in Kiev Published: 28 March 2006

Ukraine's most charismatic politician, the heroine of the Orange
Revolution Julia Tymoshenko, yesterday claimed she was the only person
who could rekindle the tattered orange dream after pro-Russian forces
annihilated the country's pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko at
the ballot box.

Mr Yushchenko's own job is not at stake since the elections were
parliamentary and not presidential but he is faced with the unenviable
task of forming a coalition government from a position of extreme
weakness and he has some difficult choices to make.

Viktor Yanukovych, the Russian-leaning politician appears to have done
improbably well, winning more votes than any other party and is
clamouring for a place in a new government.

But so too is the glamorous Ms Tymoshenko, the woman who played a
pivotal role in the revolution only to have a bitter falling out with
Mr Yushchenko later, which saw her sacked from his government and
forced into opposition.

Her political bloc appears to have beaten Mr Yushchenko's party into
third place, an achievement she believes means she should be made prime
minister in a new Orange government.

Awkwardly, Mr Yushchenko is thought to find both coalition partners
unappealing but his abysmal showing at the ballot box means he has no
choice but to plump for a marriage of convenience of some description.
Initial signs were that Mr Yushchenko would do all he could to reform
some kind of Orange government by making a series of painful political
compromises with Ms Tymoshenko to keep a resurgent Mr Yanukovych out of
office but there was a slew of contradictory information and Mr
Yushchenko remained noticeably silent on the issue.

The count was still being conducted last night because of the
complexity of Sunday's ballot, but Mr Yushchenko's party was reported
to have won a mere 16per cent of the vote (based on almost half of the
count) as Ukrainians issued a damning verdict on the last 15 months of
Orange power.

Revolution has brought unprecedented media freedom and a vibrant
political scene but has failed to improve living standards or sweep
away Ukraine's appalling corruption and has seen the country's
relationship with Russiadegenerate to a dangerous degree.

Mr Yanukovych, who was written off as a cheating Moscow stooge and
loser in 2004, appears to have staged an unexpected comeback after
reinventing himself as a more moderate independent politician who would
build good relations with both Moscow and Brussels.

Agreeing to work with Ms Tymoshenko again, a woman he sacked from the
premiership last September citing impossible personality clashes and
infighting, would also be difficult for Mr Yushchenko. The two are
reported to barely be on speaking terms and there is a feeling in the
Yushchenko camp that she is too radical.

But he cannot deny her popularity - partial results indicated her bloc
has won some 23 per cent of the vote with many Ukrainians seeing her as
the rightful heir to the Orange Revolution.

She passionately argued yesterday that only a government which included
her as prime minister could save the Orange Revolution. "We clearly
won," she told a TV station. "Our society has decided on a strategy for
development. I'll make every effort to reunite us. We don't have
another path."

Ukraine's most charismatic politician, the heroine of the Orange
Revolution Julia Tymoshenko, yesterday claimed she was the only person
who could rekindle the tattered orange dream after pro-Russian forces
annihilated the country's pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko at
the ballot box.

Mr Yushchenko's own job is not at stake since the elections were
parliamentary and not presidential but he is faced with the unenviable
task of forming a coalition government from a position of extreme
weakness and he has some difficult choices to make.

Viktor Yanukovych, the Russian-leaning politician appears to have done
improbably well, winning more votes than any other party and is
clamouring for a place in a new government.

But so too is the glamorous Ms Tymoshenko, the woman who played a
pivotal role in the revolution only to have a bitter falling out with
Mr Yushchenko later, which saw her sacked from his government and
forced into opposition.

Her political bloc appears to have beaten Mr Yushchenko's party into
third place, an achievement she believes means she should be made prime
minister in a new Orange government.

Awkwardly, Mr Yushchenko is thought to find both coalition partners
unappealing but his abysmal showing at the ballot box means he has no
choice but to plump for a marriage of convenience of some description.
Initial signs were that Mr Yushchenko would do all he could to reform
some kind of Orange government by making a series of painful political
compromises with Ms Tymoshenko to keep a resurgent Mr Yanukovych out of
office but there was a slew of contradictory information and Mr
Yushchenko remained noticeably silent on the issue.
The count was still being conducted last night because of the
complexity of Sunday's ballot, but Mr Yushchenko's party was reported
to have won a mere 16per cent of the vote (based on almost half of the
count) as Ukrainians issued a damning verdict on the last 15 months of
Orange power.

Revolution has brought unprecedented media freedom and a vibrant
political scene but has failed to improve living standards or sweep
away Ukraine's appalling corruption and has seen the country's
relationship with Russiadegenerate to a dangerous degree.

Mr Yanukovych, who was written off as a cheating Moscow stooge and
loser in 2004, appears to have staged an unexpected comeback after
reinventing himself as a more moderate independent politician who would
build good relations with both Moscow and Brussels.

Agreeing to work with Ms Tymoshenko again, a woman he sacked from the
premiership last September citing impossible personality clashes and
infighting, would also be difficult for Mr Yushchenko. The two are
reported to barely be on speaking terms and there is a feeling in the
Yushchenko camp that she is too radical.

But he cannot deny her popularity - partial results indicated her bloc
has won some 23 per cent of the vote with many Ukrainians seeing her as
the rightful heir to the Orange Revolution.

She passionately argued yesterday that only a government which included
her as prime minister could save the Orange Revolution. "We clearly
won," she told a TV station. "Our society has decided on a strategy for
development. I'll make every effort to reunite us. We don't have
another path."

.

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