On September 8, 2005 Yekhanurov was appointed Acting Prime Minister by President Viktor Yushchenko, after the President had sacked the previous Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. He was succeeded by Victor Yanukovich on August 4, 2006. Yekhanurov's candidacy was hotly contested in parliament, most notably by former Prime Minister and Yushchenko's ally Yulia Tymoshenko. His confirmation required two rounds of voting; in the first round on September 20, 2005, Yekhanurov was only three votes short of the 226 needed for approval. On September 22, 2005, after negotiations between President Yushchenko and opposition groups, he was approved by 289 deputies out of 339 present. The CPU and SDPU(o) factions abstained from voting.