Ukraine's parliament approved Yulia Tymoshenko as prime minister on Tuesday.

 

Yulia Tymoshenko was backed by 226 lawmakers in the 450-member legislature, just the number required to be prime minister, the parliament's counting commission said.

 

"I will uphold the ideals of the 2004 (Orange) Revolution which pledged to move Ukraine closer to the West and eventually seek membership of the European Union and NATO," Tymoshenko said after the voting.

 

The Orange Revolution leader said her priorities would be to clean up corruption that remains rampant in Ukraine 16 years after its independence and to proceed with vital economic, judicial and political reforms including a "clean" privatization program.

 

Tymoshenko, 47, was named prime minister by President Viktor Yushchenko on Dec. 6, but failed in her bid for premiership on Nov. 11, backed by only 225 deputies. The president re-nominated her as prime minister the following day.

 

Tymoshenko, with her trademark peasant braid and designer outfits, stood firmly at Yushchenko's side during the 2004 protests. She became prime minister in February 2005 after Yushechenko won a re-run presidential election, but was fired by him seven months later.

 

The two reconciled this year during a standoff with outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, who has pursued more Moscow-friendly policies. A snap parliamentary election was held in September to resolve months of political crisis in the country.

 

In September's polls, Yulia Tymoshenko's bloc garnered 156 seats in the 450-seat chamber and formed a shaky majority coalition with the pro-president Our Ukraine-Self Defense Bloc.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 19, 2007)