Europe News

Tymoshenko to challenge Ukraine election result

Feb 9, 2010, 17:46 GMT

Ukrainian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko arrives for her news conference after presidential elections in Kiev, Ukraine, 07 February 2010.EPA/ZURAB KURTSKIDZE

   Kiev - Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko will contest the results of Sunday's presidential vote as soon as her defeat is formally announced, local media reported Tuesday.

   The challenge will centre on alleged voter fraud in Ukraine's eastern provinces, where her opponent Viktor Yanukovych enjoys strong support, an official from Tymoshenko's political party said.

   Meanwhile, Tymoshenko allies and opponents called upon her to bow out gracefully and concede defeat as Russian President Dmitry Medvedev broke his silence and offered Yanukovych his congratulations.

   A populist politician, Tymoshenko obtained 45.47 per cent support in the Sunday national poll, according to a preliminary count by Ukraine's Central Election Commission (CEC).

   Her opponent Yanukovych, a politician allied with big business and generally supporting a pro-Moscow foreign policy, received 48.96 per cent of the popular vote, according to the CEC.

   Elena Shustik, vice-chairman of Tymoshenko's BYuT political party, said Tuesday, 'Yesterday evening we took the decision to challenge the legality of the voting process (as conducted) in some provincial regions, and then to demand a recount from the CEC.'

   Fraud in Yanukovych's favour was focused in Ukraine's eastern provinces, and included poorly checked voter rolls, the casting of absentee ballots by voters at multiple locations, and abuse of an arrangement that allows voters to cast their ballots from home, Shustik said.

   'Most likely, if we obtain a favourable court decision, we will use it to challenge the overall election result,' Shustik said, according to an Interfax news agency report.

   Cracks in the ranks of Tymoshenko's party were nonetheless visible on Tuesday, with Vice Prime Minister Mykola Tomenko, a close Tymoshenko ally, declaring his opposition to a court challenge of Yanukovych's expected win.

   'We need to admit defeat, and go into the opposition,' Tomenko told the Channel 5 television channel.

   CEC officials on Monday said the relatively substantial difference between the number of ballots cast for Yanukovych and Tymoshenko, currently a 3.49 per cent margin with 99.98 per cent of ballots counted, made mathematically inevitable a Yanukovych victory once a total ballot count is completed.

   A final ballot count, and formal announcement of a Yanukovych win, was possible on Tuesday afternoon, CEC officials have said.

   Former Finance Minister Mykola Azarov, a top Yanukovych adviser, in a parliamentary speech, attacked Tymoshenko for refusing to accept what he called a free and fair election result.

   'Observer missions from NATO, the European Union, and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe all have pronounced the vote democratic and fair, and have called on Tymoshenko to conduct herself in a worthy manner and concede defeat, as is appropriate for a democratic country,' Azarov said.

   'She is refusing to accept the authority of international observers. This is nonsense.' Azarov added.

   Tymoshenko had by late Tuesday afternoon refrained from public appearances and comments.

   Russian President Medvedev on Tuesday ended months of Kremlin neutrality during the Ukrainian presidential campaign by telephoning his congratulations to Yanukovych.

   'Dmitry Medvedev congratulated Viktor Yanukovych on completion of an election campaign that has received a high evaluation by international observers, and on the success he (Yanukovych) has obtained in the presidential election,' said a Kremlin statement to media.

   Some 3,300 international observers led by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) were on hand in Ukraine for the Sunday vote.

   OSCE officials called the Sunday poll free and fair, and in keeping with European standards.

Some 3,000 Yanukovych supporters gathered for a second day some three kilometres from Kiev's center to demonstrate in support of their candidate. The rally, held under sub-zero temperatures, was quiet, and police presence was light.