Tymoshenko relents… sort of

After almost two weeks of protest, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has dropped her charges of electoral fraud against Viktor Yanukovich, but not without a parting salvo. On February 20, after officially withdrawing her petition with the Ukrainian High Administrative Court to annul the election result, Tymoshenko declared that

"Sooner or later, an honest prosecutor’s office and an honest court will assess that Yanukovich was not elected president of Ukraine, and that the will of the people had been rigged."

Bitter much, Yulia?

While Yanukovich has managed to weather the post-election fallout — his inauguration is still scheduled for February 25, and the vast majority of Ukrainians view him as their legitimate president — it remains to be seen how he will deal with Tymoshenko, who still retains her premiership. Although Yanukovich has called on Tymoshenko to resign her post, many suspect that she has other ideas in her mind: it has been reported that she is planning to initiate a parliamentary vote of no confidence against the newly elected president upon his taking of office.

Tymoshenko may be no Nigerien colonel, but it should still be interesting to see how the Yanukovich-Tymoshenko conflict plays out after the inauguration.