The "Orange" allies have a slim majority in Ukraine's parliament

Ukraine's pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko has nominated his Orange Revolution ally Yulia Tymoshenko for the post of prime minister.

Parliament now has to vote on her candidacy. Her bloc and the pro-Yushchenko Our Ukraine party have a majority of just two in the assembly. Ukraine has been plagued by months of political deadlock. Mr Yushchenko and Ms Tymoshenko led the 2004 Orange Revolution, which ousted a Moscow-backed presidential candidate. Mr Yushchenko became president after huge street protests, defeating his bitter rival, Viktor Yanukovych, whose election had been widely condemned as fraudulent. On Tuesday the "Orange" allies succeeded in getting their candidate, Arseniy Yatsenyuk of Our Ukraine, elected parliamentary speaker.