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KIEV, Sept 19 (AFP) - Ukraine's sacked premier Yulia Tymoshenko said Monday that President Viktor Yushchenko fired her because he couldn't handle political competition from a woman and that he was aware of corruption allegations against his entourage long before they became public.
"Let's be honest, men have a hard time competing with women on a professional level," she told AFP a day before parliament was to vote on the candidacy of her successor, Yushchenko's trusted ally Yury Yekhanurov.
"For a little while, this political jealosy took second place to his need for my help," she said. "And when it appeared at first glance that this help was no longer needed, the political competition won."
Tymoshenko said that Yushchenko dismissed her government on September 8 because the ratings of the charismatic premier exceeded his own, and in order to divert attention from allegations of corruption among his entourage.
"According to all polls, my popularity in the country is higher than the president's," she said. "This is simply an unreadiness to compete fairly."
According to one poll released a month before the government dismissal, some 41.5 percent of Ukrainians trusted Tymoshenko, compared with 35.8 percent who trusted the president.
Tymoshenko, who roused crowds during last year's "orange revolution," has accused the president's team of trying to discredit her during her time in office and after her dismissal but the 44-year-old, known for her iron will, warned that she would not go down easily.
"The president's entourage is conducting an all-out war against me," she said.
"I would like Viktor Yushchenko and his team to remember that during eight years (former president Leonid) Kuchma with all his big guns... could not destroy me or my political party," she said. "And I would like for Viktor Yushchenko's team not to choose the same course."
During the former regime, Tymoshenko was jailed for more than a month after being charged with embezzlement and other charges as part of a lengthy criminal case, which lasted for years and was closed after Yushchenko's inauguration.
Following her dismissal Tymoshenko announced that she was breaking with her "orange revolution" partner and since then the two camps have lobbed almost daily salvoes, accusing each other of everything from lacking professionalism to graft.
On Monday Tymoshenko said that Yushchenko was aware of allegations that some of his closest associates were using their government posts to enrich themselves long before his former chief of staff, Olexander Zinchenko, came out in public with the accusations.
"I can say that the president knew all the nuances and absolutely knew the full picture of what was going on," she said in her interview with AFP. Why the president did not react to the allegations "remains a question mark for me. "
Tymoshenko said that she did not believe that the investigation that Yushchenko had ordered into the allegations would be conscientious.
"I am certain that the president will not rid himself of his entourage," she said. "It's more to let off steam in society."
At the same time, Tymoshenko said she did not want to engage in a war of accusations with the president.
"I don't want to participate in any wars," she said. "I simply want to partake in an honest, competitive campaign ahead of parliamentary elections," she said.
Tymoshenko said that she would not join forces with parties who opposed last year's "orange revolution."
"We will only unite with those forces who... were on our side during the orange revolution," she said.
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Ukraine-politics-Tymoshenko
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