Orange Revolution heroine Yulia Tymoshenko shows, signed by her, the oath of the deputy of Ukrainian Parliament, 23 Nov 2007

Two reformist Ukrainian political parties have formally nominated Yulia Tymoshenko as their candidate for prime minister, opening the way for the leader of the 2004 pro-Western "Orange Revolution" to return to power.

Lawmakers representing the "Our Ukraine" party of President Viktor Yushchenko joined with Ms. Tymoshenko's bloc in unanimously approving the nomination Tuesday. The president now has 15 days to approve the nomination, before sending it to parliament for approval.

The coalition also nominated Foreign Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk as parliament speaker.

These votes follow a deal announced last week under which Mr. Yushchenko and Ms. Tymoshenko agreed to reform their alliance from 2004.

Ms. Tymoshenko served as prime minister after Mr. Yushchenko won the presidency that year. But he later fired her.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.