Guardian Unlimited | World Latest | Ukraine President Dismisses Government

The Honeymoon in the Ukraine is officially over!

President Viktor Yushchenko has come a long way from the Orange Revolution. His new government, plagued with corruption and inefficiency, had begun to lose popularity with the people. Thus, heads had to role:

President Viktor Yushchenko fired his 7-month-old government Thursday, dismissing his dynamic prime minister - the heroine of the Orange Revolution that swept him to power - and accepting the resignation of one of the movement's top financial backers.

The government breakup, amid allegations of corruption, deepened a crisis that has diminished the popularity of the man whose dioxin poisoning and defiant stand against election fraud seized the world's attention last year.

It also left Yushchenko looking isolated, especially in contrast to the broad coalition that joined in the mass protests on Independence Square that many Ukrainians saw as a fresh start for their country.

``We've stepped away from the goals of the revolution,'' the president told the Ukrainian people, saying he had to act against his friends for the sake of the nation. He accused Cabinet members of focusing more on infighting than running the country of 48 million.

``I could not pretend that nothing was happening. Not for this did I survive a poisoning. Not for this did people stand on the square. I had to take radical steps,'' said Yushchenko, who rose to power on promises to end the corruption that blackened the reign of his predecessor, Leonid Kuchma.

But the dissolution of the government led by charismatic Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and acceptance of tycoon Petro Poroshenko's resignation from the powerful Security and Defense Council came at a dangerous time. Parliamentary elections are six months away, and Yushchenko must win to cement his political gains.

Temptations of power trip many leaders. Evidently, it tripped his charismatic Prime Minister. Hopefully this manuever will allow President Yushchenko to form a more competant and honest government. The Ukrainian people deserve no less.

I tremble for the Ukraine's future if the President can't secure the people's trust. Who else is ready to lead? If Ms. Tymoshenko is as corrupt as the President believed, then she won't represent the people's interests. Who will, then? Russia would welcome the opportunity to increase her influence in the Ukraine once more. Considering the people's reaction to the last leader that the Great Bear supported, I gather that won't be in the Ukrainians' interst, either.

Things don't look good for the young republic. Stay tuned!