Biography
Ukrainian politician who vied for election to President of the Ukraine on October 31, 2004 and
in the days following. The campaign against the incumbent Prime Minister, Viktor Yanukovych, was
bitter. The initial vote held on October 31, 2004 ended in a virtual tie, with Yushchenko
obtaining 39.85% of the vote and Yanukovich obtaining 39.32%. No candidate reached the 50%
margin required and a second round of run-off voting was held on November 21, 2004. Voter fraud
was alleged and a massive peaceful protest occurred on November 23rd. Yushchenko would not
concede the election, and on November 27, 2004, the parliament passed a resolution, upheld by
the Supreme Court on December 3, 2004, that the run-off was invalid. The Parliament also passed
a resolution of no confidence in the Elections Commissions and in the Government.
Born into a family of teachers, Yushchenko obtained his graduate degree in finance in 1984. Moving
to Kiev, he was appointed Deputy Director for Agricultural Crediting at the Ukrainian Republican Office
of the USSR State Bank. He held that position from 1985-1987. Switching banks and working his
way up, he became Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine in 1993. He became instrumental in
developing the banking system and the national currency. In December 1999 he was nominated as
Prime Minister and confirmed by the Parliament in an overwhelming majority vote. He held the
office until April 2001 when a "no confidence" vote was taken after he became embroiled n a confrontation
with influential leaders in the coal-mining and natural gas industries. The Communists engineered the
no-confidence vote, ending in his removal from office though he remained popular with Ukrainians who
demonstrated on his behalf. In 2002, he became leader of the "Our Ukraine" political coalition, and
he became the voice of the government opposition.
He is married with five children, three daughters and two sons. His wife is an American-born Ukrainian,
and during the bitterly disputed Presidential election, the Yushchenkos' foes claimed that she
unduly influenced the United States government in her husband's favor. A charismatic and
once-handsome man, his appearance changed when he became seriously ill after dining with the
head of the state security service in September 2004. In dangerously compromised health, he was
flown abroad for treatment and was diagnosed with "acute pancreatitis, accompanied by interstitial
edematous changes" attributed to a severe viral infection. Some reports said that the infection was
caused by chemical substances not normally found in food products, leading to a suspicion that he had
been poisoned. Yushchenko himself claimed that his illness was the work of government agents. The result
is a man whose face became quite bloated, pock-marked, and discolored. On December 12, 2004, physicians at
the Vienna clinic where he had been treated confirmed that he had been poisoned with Dioxin, and laboratory
tests revealed that Yushchenko’s body contained the third largest amount of Dioxin ever found in humans.
Yushchenko won the presidential election on December 26, 2004 with almost 52 percent of the vote against his opponent's 44.2 percent. However, his opponent, Viktor Yanukovych appealed and vowed not to retreat from the fight for the presidency of the Ukraine. On January 17, 2005, the Supreme Court rejected many of Yanukovych's motions and after further deliberations declared that Yushchenko could be inaugurated. He took his oath of office in the Ukraine Parliament in Kiev on January 23, 2005.
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