Ukraine's Tymoshenko officially announces presidential bid

KIEV - Ukrainian opposition politician Yulia Tymoshenko officially announced her presidential bid on Tuesday thus beginning a campaign for the presidential elections slated for March 31.

"Great Ukraine is my goal, which I will strictly follow! That's why I run for president," Tymoshenko said during the Congress of her political party "Fatherland" in Kiev.

Tymoshenko said that her team has developed a new program to revive Ukraine named "New Course," which is aimed at improving the welfare of people and ensuring the security of the country.

The program envisages adopting a new Ukrainian Constitution, granting more powers to local authorities, rooting out corruption, and returning territories that fell beyond the government control under Kiev sovereignty, Tymoshenko said.

Tymoshenko promised that, if she fails to "break the old system and show the results" on the presidential post within 100 days, she would resign.

The 58-year-old Tymoshenko is a leader of the Fatherland party, which holds 20 seats in the 450-seat Ukrainian parliament.

Tymoshenko had served as Ukrainian prime minister between 2005 and 2010.

The presidential campaign in Ukraine was officially launched on Dec 31, 2018.