[Vacets-local-dc] [The Ukrainian inspiration ...]

[Hai Tran]

Radical Tymoshenko Wins Backing as Ukrainian PM
Fri Feb 4, 2005 12:47 PM ET 

By Ron Popeski 
KIEV, Ukraine (Reuters) - Radical reformer Yulia Tymoshenko won overwhelming approval as Ukraine's prime minister Friday and pledged to make her government so clean it would "sparkle like a diamond." 
Tymoshenko, who charmed crowds alongside the new president at protests which helped put him in power, told parliament she would make government accountable and uphold ties with Russia. But she also vowed to move "quickly and honorably" in propelling the ex-Soviet state toward Europe. 
Deputies in the 450-seat chamber endorsed her by 379 votes to zero. She immediately read out the list of Yushchenko's cabinet nominees, all prominent reformers committed to preparing the ex-Soviet state for European Union membership. 
Tymoshenko, beaming in an elaborate gray dress and her trademark Ukrainian braid, promised after the vote she would not disappoint the country's people or its president. 
"There could be some shortcoming or other on technical issues, but I will maintain moral standards so high that no one will be able to say later that they were mistaken today. We will build such a team that Ukraine will sparkle like a diamond." 
Embraced by the president outside the chamber, she vowed to remember the dreams of supporters who had filled Kiev's streets. 
"I know society is expecting a miracle from the government -- a social miracle, a miracle in establishing order and justice triumphing," she said. "We will make the miracle happen." Parliament later approved her government's program of broad principles, though some deputies said it lacked detail. 
Tymoshenko is popular with nationalists but viewed with suspicion in Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine and in Moscow, where bribery charges are still being pressed against her. 
FANTASY 
Speaking before the vote, Yushchenko said he understood an honest government amounted to a "fantasy" for most Ukrainians after 10 years of scandals under his predecessor, Leonid Kuchma. 
"In this country, problem No. 1 has been corruption, starting from the top," Yushchenko told the chamber. 
"I will take no bribes, I will not steal. I demand the same thing of my government. My government will not take bribes. It will bring no cash to parliament to win approval of laws." 
She and Yushchenko conducted the cabinet's first meeting, with a second sitting due Saturday. Also scheduled for Saturday were talks with French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier, the first Western figure to visit since Yushchenko took office. 
Since his election in a December re-run of a rigged vote, Yushchenko's team has vowed to push reforms to move out of the shadow of giant neighbor Russia and seek EU membership. 
Industrialist Anatoly Kinakh was appointed First Deputy Prime Minister to underpin major economic change. Three deputy prime ministers were also named, including aide Oleh Rybachuk for the portfolio of European integration. 
Viktor Pynzenyk became finance minister, a job he held in the early days of post-Soviet government and Borys Tarasyuk, committed to seeking entry to both the EU and NATO, took over at the foreign ministry, which he also ran in the 1990s. 
The president says he aims to start talks by 2007 on an association agreement with the EU. NATO membership is also being mooted and Yushchenko is to meet President Bush and other NATO leaders later this month in Brussels. 
Tymoshenko said Russia was Ukraine's most important partner. "But our path lies in moving toward Europe," she added. 
Tymoshenko's policy goals released this week called for an overhaul of institutions, creation of a civil society and better benefits. But there were few concrete proposals or figures. 
Some deputies expressed reservations. 
"This document is no program, it is no more than a dream," Communist Yuri Solomatin said.



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