KIEV, September 20 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine's lower chamber of parliament, the Supreme Rada, has rejected Yuriy Yekhanurov's candidacy for prime minister.
Yekhanurov needed 226 votes in the 450-member parliament, but got only 223.
On September 8, President Viktor Yushchenko dismissed the government run by Yuliya Tymoshenko, his closest ally in the Orange Revolution that brought him to power, and appointed Yekhanurov, the former governor of the Dnepropetrovsk region in eastern Ukraine, acting prime minister.
Yushchenko accused Tymoshenko government of infighting, betraying the revolution's ideals and abusing power.
"Yuliya Tymoshenko's conduct in the government and her allies all centered around her own interests," Yushchenko said.
