“The only man in Ukrainian politics,” that’s how former Prime Minister Yulia Tymeschenko was once described by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Now the 53-year-old could be squaring up to Moscow again as the leader of the Fatherland Party announced her intentions to stand in the country’s presidential election on May 25.
“Two months – it’s enough time to begin immediately to take the decisions that Ukraine has waited 22 years for – since independence. But we need real reforms, not just imitation ones as it always used to be. My presidential campaign will include concrete and clear actions every day,” she told reporters.
Gone is the trademark peasant hair-braid which she had when she was introduced to the crowds in Independence Square following the demise of her nemesis, the ousted Viktor Yanukovych.
The crowd was muted in their response to her and four different opinion polls indicate she is lagging behind opposition figures Petro Poroshenko and Vitaliy Klytschko.
