A Woman as The Ukraine Prime Minister - Applause - Rounds and rounds of applause - Welcome, Yulia Tymoshenko.
I don't find her rise to power strange at all.
After the Victory Parties in Ukraine "Ms. Tymoshenko is a divisive figure who rose to prominence in the 1990's as a rich and powerful energy executive. She has gone from being an ally of a corrupt prime minister to a fighter of corruption, then was briefly jailed on fraud and money-laundering charges that she insists were political, and were dismissed."
I am not sure she is divisive so much as 'declaratory.' She evidently is an ambitious person who became familiar with a corrupt administration only to turn on it and seek power by prosecuting it from a political platform. She helped the Orange Party succeed and for that she has been rewarded.
I think the New York Times does not like 'A clanging bell' but Ms. Tymoshenko is Mr. Yushchenko choice and has confidence in a controversial woman.
I think there is some legitimacy in the reservations made here but I think they are more the opinion of sexism and reverberation of other global bias than the actual best interest of the people of The Ukraine.
"Hush, hush, Ms. Tymoshenko, know your place."
Oh?
... On a more troubling note, Mr. Yushchenko nominated Yulia Tymoshenko, an outspoken and ambitious ally, as prime minister. That choice is especially significant because some presidential powers were transferred to Parliament last month, enhancing the prime minister's stature. Ms. Tymoshenko could become still more powerful if the dioxin poisoning Mr. Yushchenko suffered last year should leave him with serious, lasting health problems.
Ms. Tymoshenko is a divisive figure who rose to prominence in the 1990's as a rich and powerful energy executive. She has gone from being an ally of a corrupt prime minister to a fighter of corruption, then was briefly jailed on fraud and money-laundering charges that she insists were political, and were dismissed. But the problem with her nomination lies less in these distant events than in Ms. Tymoshenko's demagogic and uncompromising speeches over the past few weeks. She had publicly boasted that Mr. Yushchenko had pledged to make her prime minister in a deal he could not withdraw. He must now make sure she understands that he, not she, will be setting the ultimate direction of Ukrainian policy.
National reconciliation must be more than a slogan in a country where most of the industry and wealth are located in regions that voted overwhelmingly against Mr. Yushchenko. It is there, especially, that Ms. Tymoshenko is seen as needlessly divisive. She now needs to erase that impression by loyally carrying out Mr. Yushchenko's policies.
