UKRAINE: Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko says liberals will win parliamentary election and Yulia Tymoshenko can lead the country's new government

President Viktor Yushchenko said liberals who swept him to power would win Ukraine's parliamentary election and form a government that "Orange Revolution" heroine Yulia Tymoshenko may lead. Yushchenko, interviewed by Reuters late on Tuesday (September 18), also discounted suggestions that he could cut a deal to form a "grand coalition" to govern Ukraine alongside his arch rival from the 2004 revolution, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich. Differences in aims and ideology were simply too great, he said. "I have no doubt that the democratic forces will win the election," said Yushchenko. Asked about the possibility of Tymoshenko becoming prime minister again, Yushchenko said he did not discount the possibility. "I do not rule that out. There are no pre-conditions or demands," he said during a tour of central Ukraine. The president hopes the Sept. 30 election will end months of deadlock and enable long-delayed reforms to be implemented. The pro-Western Yushchenko beat Yanukovich in the rerun of a rigged 2004 election, giving rise to plans to move Ukraine closer to the West and one day perhaps joining NATO and the European Union. But a government led by Tymoshenko, riddled by infighting, collapsed eight months later, splitting the "orange" camp. Yanukovich bounced back to become prime minister, spawning a struggle for power that led the president to dissolve parliament and call a new election expected to produce few changes. In his comments, Yushchenko said "orange" forces, split by his dismissal of Tymoshenko, needed to unite. "Let me say again that there is one important thing. I am certain the democratic forces will win and will assume responsibility for creating a coalition in parliament and a government. On the other hand, another important condition for me is that the election outcome does not produce two Ukraines. A single Ukraine - united and one - must emerge," Yushchenko said. "Nor do I doubt that the democratic forces will learn the lessons of what happened a year and a half, two years ago. The democratic forces did not suffer a defeat at the hands of opponents. They lost because of a lack of mutual understanding and the ambitions of individual politicians and political forces," he added. Tymoshenko's fiery speeches inspired crowds in the 2004 rallies. But as premier she aroused suspicion among investors with calls to review privatisations. Relations with Russia were also bumpy. The president's reluctance to allow her to become prime minister again after a parliamentary election barely a year ago helped Yanukovich regain office after months of coalition talks. The president has since reconciled with her and pledged to cooperate in the new election. Analysts predict a blanket finish followed by difficult talks to put together a stable coalition. Yanukovich's Regions Party leads polls, but the combined tally of "orange" parties is right behind -- though Tymoshenko's bloc is far ahead of the president's Our Ukraine party. Yushchenko did not rule out entirely a "grand coalition" to bridge the gap between Ukraine's nationalist west and centre that backs him and the Russian-speaking east behind the premier. But he described it as a "very difficult topic" given the history of confrontation and calls by Yanukovich's party for a referendum on two highly sensitive issues -- NATO membership and making Russian an official language alongside Ukrainian. Suggestions of an impending grand coalition have been fuelled by Yanukovich's fierce attacks on Tymoshenko in campaign speeches while adopting a hands-off approach to the president. Yushchenko said this merely showed the Regions Party had to court "orange" parties as it was losing hope of maintaining its current governing coalition with socialists and communists. "It will naturally want to change the way it relates to the democratic forces," he said. "But this would be difficult for the democratic forces, given the lack of respect and the values and the ideology displayed by the Regions Party."

ITN Source | September 20, 2007

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