Ex-allies may reunite

last updated 8 January 2015

Kiev, Ukraine

The pro-Russian Party of Regions won the largest share of seats in Ukraine’s parliamentary elections this week, in a surprise setback for pro-Western forces. But with only about 30 percent of the vote, the party isn’t likely to be able to form a government. Instead, President Viktor Yushchenko, whose party came in third, is considering reuniting with Yulia Tymoshenko, whose party came in second, to form a governing coalition. Yushchenko and Tymoshenko were allies in the 2004 Orange Revolution that toppled the former communists, and Yushchenko named Tymoshenko prime minister. But he fired her a year later after the two squabbled over economic policy and anti-corruption measures. Tymoshenko said she is eager to bury the hatchet. "I am 99 percent sure that the coalition will be formed," she said, "and I will mark this victory with intensive work."