President of the European Parliament up a debate on the role of the president and make the figure more dynamic, to counterbalance the growing power of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. However, on 8 July 2009 Watson announced that he withdrew his candidacy thus leaving Buzek with only one opponent. The other official candidate was Eva-Britt Svensson, nominated from EUL-NGL. She campaigned with the slogan "a different voice". She was the first MEP from Sweden to candidate to the position. In the first vote of the new Parliament Jerzy Buzek (EPP, Poland) was elected Parliament president, winning with 555 votes to
Prime Minister of Ukraine and legal proceedings. The Prime Minister's office is headquartered in the Cabinet of Ministries building in central Kiev. The Prime Minister was paid a yearly salary of 202,776 UAH (16,898/month) (US$26,770) in 2005. In 2013, following a petition in "Fokus" magazine, the secretariat of the cabinet stated that the monthly salary of Prime Minister was 33,980 UAH (US$4,173.42), which is eleven times more than the average salary in the country. Prime Ministers are frequently asked by individual citizens for help in solving their personal problems, sometimes successfully. In 2012, Prime Minister Azarov received dozens of personal pleas every day on