Ukrainian President proposes rival to form Cabinet

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said today he is nominating his former Orange Revolution foe, Viktor Yanukovych, for prime minister, insisting the decision would help unite the divided nation but acknowledging it might cause confusion.
The decision ends four months of political uncertainty sparked by parliamentary elections in which no party won a majority.

Yushchenko made the announcement in an early-morning address, two hours after the constitutional deadline passed for him to decide on Yanukovych's candidacy. He said the decision was made after Yanukovych agreed to sign a memorandum on national unity that preserves the president's foreign and domestic policies.

``I ask people to understand that we have a unique chance about which we talked on Independence Square, about which we dreamed," Yushchenko said, referring to the 2004 Orange Revolution mass protests that followed Yanukovych's fraud-marred grab at the presidency. He said the move was a chance to unite both sides.

March parliamentary elections, in which Yanukovych's party won the most votes, reinforced deep divisions in this ex-Soviet republic. The Russian-speaking east, which looks to Moscow, strongly backed Yanukovych. But many in the Ukrainian-speaking west and center warned a Yanukovych premiership would be a betrayal.

Initially, the three parties that backed the Orange Revolution protests against election fraud put together a coalition. But it fell apart when the Socialists defected. Yanukovych scooped up the Socialists and the Communists to form a parliamentary majority, which put him forward to be premier.