Viktor Yushchenko

Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko (Ukrainian: ?????? ?????????? ??????) (born 23 February 1954) is the President of Ukraine. As leader of the Our Ukraine (Nasha Ukrayina) political coalition, he was the main opposition candidate in the October–November 2004 Ukrainian presidential election. Ukraine's Central Election Commission declared him the winner of the 26 December 2004 re-run of the runoff election, by 52% to 44% over Viktor Yanukovych. Yushchenko had previously served as the chairman of the country's central bank from 1993 to 1999 and as the Prime Minister of Ukraine from 1999 to 2001.

Our Ukraine leader and political portrait

In 2002, Yushchenko became the leader of the Our Ukraine (Nasha Ukrayina) political coalition, which received a plurality of seats in the parliamentary election that year. However, the number of seats won wasn't enough for a majority, and the efforts to form it together with other opposition parties failed. Since then, Yushchenko has remained the leader and public face of the Our Ukraine group (Ukrainian: fraktsiya "Nasha Ukrayina", ??????? "???? ???????").

Related Topics:
2002 - Our Ukraine - Coalition - Seats - Election - Opposition - Ukrainian

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Yushchenko was widely regarded as the leader of anti-president opposition in the government, since other opposition parties were less influential and had fewer seats in the parliament.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Since the end of his term as prime minister, Yushchenko has become a charismatic political figure and he is popular among Ukrainians in the western and central regions of the country. As of 2001–2004, his rankings in popularity polls were higher than those of the president at the time, Leonid Kuchma. http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/041121/250/f72mp.html

Related Topics:
Charismatic - 2001 - 2004 - Leonid Kuchma

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As a politician, Viktor Yushchenko is widely perceived as a mixture of West-oriented and moderate Ukrainian nationalist. He is also an advocate of massive privatization of the economy. His opponents (and allies) sometimes criticize him for indecision and failure to reveal his position, while advocates argue that these are the signs of Yushchenko's commitment to teamwork, consensus, and negotiation. He is also often accused of being unable to form a united and strong team that is free of inner quarrels. One of his political allies is Yulia Timoshenko who, during the Kuchma presidency, was arrested and then cleared of fraud charges relating to gas privatization, while serving as deputy prime minister in a Yushchenko cabinet.

Related Topics:
Nationalist - Consensus - Yulia Timoshenko

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~