The Ukrainian parliament named Viktor Yanukovych prime minister on August 4, marking a storming return for the pro-Moscow politician, who suffered a humiliating defeat in a revote of the runoff between him and President Viktor Yushchenko in the 2004 presidential election.

President Yushchenko did not block his former archrival's nomination. He said the alternative, dissolving the legislature and calling new elections, would not have been in the country's best interests. Yushchenko was always going to be on the back foot after Yanukovych's Party of Regions won the most votes in the March parliamentary elections, exposing voters' dissatisfaction and infighting among the president's allies at the slow pace of change. Yanukovych formed a parliamentary majority with the Socialists and Communists, which nominated him to be premier in mid-July.

The new prime minister has agreed to continue Ukraine's pro-West course and ensure the opposition has equal rights during elections, according to a national unity pact signed by Yanukovych and Yushchenko.

Yushchenko's ex-ally and Orange Revolution heroine Yulia Tymoshenko calls the new ruling coalition a "politically explosive mixture." In an interview with a Spanish newspaper, she said the coalition is based on an alliance of "people with a corporative and entrepreneur mentality, who come to power with the intention to earn money and for whom democracy means nothing."