KIEV, Jan. 20 - Prime Minster Yulia Tymoshenko on Wednesday suggested nominating Serhiy Tyhypko, the No. 3 most popular politician, as the next prime minister in the event of her winning the presidential election next month.

The move is the boldest attempt yet to try to win over Tyhypko’s supporters three weeks before the runoff vote, and comes as she has been desperately seeking to increase her popular support.

“I suggested that Serhiy Tyhypko be not only a partner in this difficult work, but also [hold] the post of the prime minister if he has such an ambition,” Tymoshenko said at a press conference. “Now, the decision and the response is his.”

Tymoshenko seeks to secure greater support as most opinion polls suggest that she would lose the runoff vote, which is due on February 7, to opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych.

Tyhypko’s voters may play the crucial role in the victory of any of the candidates, analysts said.

Yanukovych scored 35.32% of the vote in the first round of election on Sunday, followed by Tymoshenko’s 25.05%, the Central Election Commission reported Tuesday after counting all ballots.

Tyhypko, a former governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, scored 13.06%, followed by Arseniy Yatseniuk, a former speaker of Parliament, with 6.96%, and incumbent President Viktor Yushchenko’s 5.45%, according to the commission.

Yanukovych on Wednesday travelled to the Kharkiv region, the stronghold of Tyhypko, a day after making a trip to Chernivtsi, the stronghold of Yatseniuk.

“I believe that voters that have voted for Tyhypko share our views,” Yanukovych said. “I am confident that they will come with us in the second round of voting.”

Meanwhile, Tyhypko on Wednesday remained lukewarm to endorsing either Tymoshenko or Yanukovych, indicating that he may maintain neutrality through the end of the election.

The plan to nominate Tyhypko as the prime minister may not work for Tymoshenko because she does not effectively control the majority of Parliament.

Tyhypko’s best interests would probably be declaring early general election in order to have his party, the Strong Ukraine, represented in Parliament, analysts said.

Tymoshenko indicated earlier that declaring the early election will not be on agenda if she wins the presidency, while Yanukovych has indicated that such election will probably be needed.

Tyhypko said not only Tymoshenko, but also Yanukovych had conducted the first round of negotiations with him, but fell short of disclosing what had been offered by Yanukovych in exchange for support.

“Yes, I had the talks with Tymoshenko and Yanukovych on the same day,” Tyhypko told reporters earlier on Wednesday. “There are some propositions, but my position has not changed yet.”

“Let them have a political fight,” Tyhypko said. (tl/ez)