Boxing Champion To Run For Ukrainian Parliament
December 10, 2005
Klitschko often appeared on stage with Viktor Yushchenko in last year's Orange Revolution (RFE/RL)
10 December 2005 -- Newly retired heavyweight boxing champion Vitaliy Klitschko announced today he will run in Ukraine's March parliamentary polls.
Klitschko is to lead the party list of a newly formed bloc. It includes a party headed by the country's finance minister and the Pora youth movement, which helped organize last year's Orange Revolution mass protests.
Klitschko also today refused to rule out a bid for Kyiv's mayoral post.
The 34-year-old is hugely popular in Ukraine and was a prominent supporter of the Orange Revolution, which propelled Viktor Yushchenko to the presidency. Yushchenko's political party also tried to persuade Klitschko to join its party ranks.
(AP)