Defeated Ukrainian politician could serve under rival

UKRAINE’S main opposition party joined together with two other groups in parliament to propose defeated presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovich as prime minister.

The realignment in Ukrainian politics means that Mr Yanukovich could end up serving as prime minister to President Viktor Yushchenko, the man he lost out to in what has become known as the Orange Revolution.

The move underscored divisions in the country between the mainly Russian-speaking east and south and the Ukrainian-speaking west, and the country’s strategic dilemma between close ties with Russia and integration with the West.