Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko dropped Yulia Tymoshenko, 44, as prime minister on Thursday.

Dismissed along with her Cabinet, Tymoshenko was regarded as the heroine of the Orange Revolution that swept Yushchenko to power.

The break-up, amidst allegations of corruption, left Yushchenko looking isolated, especially in contrast to the broad coalition that joined in last year's mass protests.

But if Tymoshenko decides to move into the opposition, some believe she will become a strong challenger to the president.

"I can predict that our team, which will be headed by Yulia Tymoshenko, will win the parliamentary election (in March) and return to its position in April," former Vice-Prime Minister Mykola Tomenko was quoted as telling the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

In 1979, Tymoshenko married Oleksandr Tymoshenko, a son of a mid-level Soviet Communist Party official.

She graduated from Dnipropetrovsk State University with a degree in economics in 1984, and went on to gain a candidate degree (the equivalent of a PhD) in economics. From 1995 to 1997, she was the president of United Energy Systems of Ukraine. At that time, she was nicknamed "gas princess."

Tymoshenko made a move into politics in 1996, and was elected as a representative of Kirovohrad Oblast. From 1999 to 2001, she was the deputy prime minister in the energy sector in the government of Yushchenko.

Tymoshenko was fired by then President Leonid Kuchma in January 2001, on charges of forging customs documents and smuggling Russian natural gas while she was the president of United Energy Systems of Ukraine between 1995 and 1997.

She was arrested in February 2001 but was released and cleared of charges several weeks later.

Following the Orange Revolution that ousted Kuchma, Tymoshenko was appointed as prime minister by new president Yushchenko on February 4, 2005.

Source: China Daily