KIEV, July 10 – Andriy Strizhak, a Constitutional Court judge thought to be loyal to President Viktor Yushchenko, has been elected the court’s chairman, the court reported Tuesday.

Strizhak was appointed to the Constitutional Court by a panel of Ukrainian judges in 2004. Since 1996 Strizhak had worked as a judge in the TransCarpathian region, the stronghold of Viktor Baloha, Yushchenko’s chief of staff.