New Government

The majority enjoyed by Tymoshenko as Ukraine's new prime minister could not be any slimmer, and the popular, if controversial politician only succeeded in getting elected on her second attempt.

Those aren't good signs for the coalition between the "Block of Yulia Tymoshenko" and the "Our Ukraine" electoral alliance led by Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko. And it's difficult to see Victor Yanukovich's Party of Regions being content to remain in the opposition for the duration of the legislative period.

The ongoing problem in Ukraine is that its deeply divided class of politicians is unable to translate the will of voters into governance. As in any democracy, those who can muster a majority in parliament are supposed to form a government. And those in the opposition have a responsibility to watch over that government and offer political alternatives.

But there is ample reason to fear that the new parliament will not be able to live up to either of those responsibilities. That would mean Ukrainian voters would come out on the losing end.

Discipline problems

Yulia Tymoshenko previously served as her country's prime minister for a couple of months after the so-called Orange Revolution during the winter of 2004-2005. Together with President Yushchenko, she was supposed to fight corruption and nepotism, enact democratic reforms and improve the country economically and socially.

But few results were achieved. The alliance between Tymoshenko and Yushchenko ended in fighting and estrangement. And since then the two camps have never been able to reach a rapprochement.

In the run-up to this most recent election, some politicians in Yushchenko's alliance openly speculated about whether to enter once again into a coalition with Yanukovich's Party of Regions. Coalition discipline forced these dissenters to vote for Tymoshanko. But, it is questionable whether that discipline can be maintained.

Boycott instead of Opposition

The Party of Regions will try to exploit the faults in the current governing coalition. Yanukovich's party remains the largest faction in the Ukrainian parliament, even if it did lose votes in absolute terms in September's elections.

The party doesn't give any impression that it will settle for a role in the opposition. Instead, it seems bent on a policy of obstruction and troublemaking. Those policies were in ample evidence in recent days in Ukraine's parliament, as members of the party boycotted the vote on Tymoshenko's candidacy.

That is hardly a form of constructive opposition. On the contrary, it violates the rules of a functioning democracy.

And the electorate? They've been confined to the role of spectator. Little has remained of the forward-looking optimism of the Orange Revolution. Political exhaustion has taken over, especially as the Ukrainian economy has grown this year even without a government in power.

Ukrainian politicians have been fighting for years. Everyday people have quit paying attention and just go about their work. It's easy to understand why they do.

Bernd Johann is director of DW-RADIO's Ukrainian service. (jc)