Yulia Tymoshenko, the former Ukrainian prime minister who was imprisoned on corruption charges before being freed after President Viktor Yanukovych was deposed last month, is to run for president in the country’s post-revolution elections in May.
Tymoshenko is yesterday’s woman and part of the country’s past. When she appeared on stage in Kiev’s Maidan Square last month (Saturday February 22) hundreds of people streamed away in disgust. There is not doubt she suffered in prison. There is also little doubt that she was a deeply divisive figure in Ukraine. The country can do without her as it seeks to move away from two decades of corrupt governance.