UKRAINE: Yulia Out After Parliament Votes "No Confidence."

BLOOMBERG/    Ukraine's parliament voted 243 to 207  "no-confidence" in Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's government, forcing her to resign. New President Viktor Yanukovych now has 30 days to assemble a majority coalition in parliament and 30 days to name a new head of government.

UKRAINE: Expert Predicts "Dysfunctional Democracy" May Linger Six Months.

BLOOMBERG/   Because he lacks a ruling majority, newly inaugurated President Viktor Yanukovych may have to share power with rival Yulia Tymoshenko for as long as six months. “There is going to be a lot of uncertainty for some time,” said researcher Nick Day. “Clearly, Yanukovych hasn’t got an overwhelming majority and needs to get a lot of people on his side in order to push through any meaningful changes within the economy. People will swap sides and it will become a dysfunctional democracy.”

UKRAINE:After Court Suspended Presidential Results, Yulia Cancels Challenge.

REUTERS/ UPDATE: AM 20 FEB/   Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has dropped her challenge to the election of Viktor Yanukovich as president because she believes the court is not trustworthy. Her announcement surprised many.

UKRAINE: Loser Yulia Still Claims Vote Rigged As Officials Declare Winner.

AP/GOOGLE/   Election officials declared Viktor Yanukovych the winner of Ukraine's presidential election. Challenger Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko maintains that the vote was rigged and will challenge the results in court. Officials say Yanukovych won by 3.5% — 888,000 of the nearly 25.5 million ballots or about 48.95% in an election with a 70% turnout.

UKRAINE: Yanukovych Ekes Out Victory Over Yulia.

BLOOMBERG/  Victor Yanukovych, 59, narrowly defeated  Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in Sunday's presidential run-off but she is refusing to concede and is expected to challenge the result. Yet election observers call the results  fair and "truly competitive" with no indications of serious fraud, describing the vote as an "impressive display" of democracy. But Yanukovych has what some are calling "mighty challenges ahead." “The (3%) margin is insignificant and doesn’t give Yanukovych a very convincing victory,” said one expert.

UKRAINE: Returning To Russian Sphere Just Five Years After Orange Revolution.

GUARDIAN.UK/ Analysis/ Miriam Elder

Polls indicate that Ukraine's voters are endorsing a return to Russian influence just 5 years after its Orange Revolution because two pro-Moscow candidates lead next week's presidential election. Victor Yanukovych leads polling with 33.3% of the vote, while Prime Minister Julia Tymoshenko garners 16.6%. Once proposed NATO membership appears DOA since both leading candidates oppose it.

UKRAINE: Sour Political Mood Surrounds Presidential Election.

NYTIMES/
Deep disillusionment has settled in the Ukraine, the home five years ago of the Orange Revolution. “Everyone’s disappointed in politicians,” said Vladimir Zuyenko, a security guard who had gone three months without pay. “They made this revolution, but they didn’t solve anything. We were poor then, and we’re still poor. The only reason to vote is that if we don’t, someone else will vote for us.”

UKRAINE: Swine Flu Panic Infects Kiev's Politics.

GLOBAL POST/
Ukraine is in the midst of a swine flu panic as more than 750,000 people have been infected and 109 have died. Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, running second in polling for the Jan. 17 presidential elections, has appeared in a surgical mask which some call show-boating. “Ukrainian authorities are using the hysteria over the flu outbreak to distract citizens’ attention from the country’s economic and social problems,” said presidential candidate Sergey Tigipko, a former member of Tymoshenko’s team who is now running against her. “Flu is a serious threat, but in Ukraine they have contrived to turn it into a political tool used to distract public attention from real problems.”

UKRAINE: Government Bans Gatherings To Fight Swine Flu.

NYTIMES/
The Ukrainian government ordered all schools to close for three weeks, banning public gatherings and imposing restrictions on travel to combat the spread of swine flu. The situation in Ukraine “has reached the epidemic threshold,” said Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. The ban on public gatherings applies to “all large-scale events, concerts, movie showings and any other gatherings of people for the next three weeks.”

UKRAINE: U.S.Consultants Advise Prime Minister In Presidential Campaign.

GLOBAL POST/
According to the latest opinion poll Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko still trails her rival Viktor Yanukovich by 11 percentage points — 26.8 to 15.6 percent though her campaign is advised by the American political consulting firm "AKPD Message and Media," which helped Barack Obama win the White House.

Ukraine's Economy Paralyzed By Politics.

WSJOURNAL.
With a presidential election set for January, potential candidates are fighting over economic policy.
While a $10.6 billion bailout from the IMF saved Ukraine from near-default this spring, its Parliament is paralyzed as the opposition opposes Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and demands a social spending increase.