Viktor Yushchenko became Ukraine's president yesterday, crowning a peaceful revolt by ordinary people that overcame a rigged election.

Watched by Secretary of State Colin Powell and dignitaries from Russia, Yushchenko took the oath of office to cap his two-month "Orange Revolution."

"The people achieved honest elections, the transfer of power was legitimate," Yushchenko, a 50-year-old former central bank governor, told parliament after taking the oath.

"We have a single aim, a democratic and prosperous Ukraine."

Aware of the turning point reached in his country's history, Yushchenko told Powell he was happy "that I have lived to the time when the Ukrainian president is elected not in Moscow, not in Washington, but in Ukraine."

Yushchenko wants to eradicate corruption and build a country with a transparent economy and institutions to join the European mainstream.

Ukraine is sandwiched between Russia and the 25-nation European Union. Crowds gathered in Independence Square, its buildings bedecked in Yushchenko's orange campaign colours, trademark of the revolution that propelled him to power.

Presidents of at least seven countries were due to attend the inauguration, including Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Estonia and Latvia, all committed to European integration.

Yushchenko wants an end to divisions between Ukraine's nationalist western regions and the Russian-speaking east that had been accentuated by the election.

Today, he will fulfil a promise to make Moscow his first foreign destination by meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin.

His programme this week also includes visits to the Council of Europe, a major rights body, the European Parliament, the World Economic Forum in Switzerland and commemorations in Poland of the Soviet army's liberation of the Auschwitz death camp.

Source: Chian Daily