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Ukraine commission declares PM the winner
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-11-25 01:00 Ukraine's political crisis appeared to ease on
Wednesday when both presidential candidates in a disputed election offered ways
out of their bitter feud that has taken the country to the brink of violent
conflict.
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| Ukraine's opposition leader and pro-Western presidential candidate
Viktor Yushchenko prepares to deliver his speech during a rally in central
Kiev, November 24, 2004. [Reuters] | Liberal
contender Viktor Yushchenko, who brought tens of thousands of supporters onto
the streets after alleging he had been robbed of victory last Sunday by mass
cheating, said he was now ready to take part in a new "honest" poll.
Moscow-backed Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich was, as expected, formally
declared the winner by electoral authorities.
But earlier, he hinted that he too was open to compromise saying he was not
interested in official results that handed him a "fictitious victory."
The signs of a compromise emerged as the United States, the European Union
and the U.S.-led NATO military alliance all urged authorities to review the
conduct of last Sunday's run-off which most western powers have said was
fraudulently conducted.
Even Russian President Vladimir Putin, who quickly congratulated Yanukovich
when it was clear he was winning, looked ready to see an end to the crisis in
its ex-Soviet ally.
The Kremlin said that Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder agreed,
in a telephone conversation, that Ukraine should solve its crisis through legal
means.
Though compromise was in the air, the central electoral commission went ahead
with a rowdy session at which it declared that Yanukovich had won 49.46 per cent
of the vote to 46.61 percent for Yushchenko.
Yushchenko's comments provided outgoing President Leonid Kuchma with a way to
defuse the crisis that has convulsed the state of 47 million since early on
Monday.
"We are ready to have a repeat of the second round vote provided we have an
honest Central Election Commission," Yushchenko told tens of thousands of
supporters massed in Kiev's main square.
ROBBED OF VICTORY
Yushchenko, a former prime minister who narrowly won the first round and was
put well ahead of Yanukovich in an exit poll, says he was robbed of victory by
large-scale cheating.
His allegations sparked mass unrest in Kiev and other Yushchenko strongholds
in western Ukraine, bringing tens of thousands out onto the streets, paralyzing
normal life.
Yushchenko supporters roamed Kiev for a third day, marching past buildings
housing the presidency, government and parliament and chanting: "Yushchenko!
Yushchenko!"
The United States and the European Union have all condemned the election as a
fraudulent exercise.
There was no immediate reaction from Kuchma.
But, within seconds of Yushchenko's offer, Yanukovich said in a statement: "I
need no fictitious victory, a result which could lead to violence and victims.
No position of authority, no matter how important, is worth a single human
life."
Late on Tuesday, Kuchma called for talks with all parties to solve the
election row, but dismissed the opposition protests as a "political farce."
He has not been seen since the eve of the poll and Yushchenko supporters have
made much of his public absence.
Yushchenko stressed that any new election would have to be run under tighter
electoral rules, particularly regarding absentee ballots, seen as an area open
to most abuse.
Repeating his warning of civil conflict, he told his cheering supporters:
"This was not provoked by you or by the opposition. It was done by the
authorities.
"But to find a resolution of the conflict does not mean accepting falsified
elections. We will never agree to that."
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana also warned that Ukraine was at a
crossroads and could slide into violence.
The two rivals stand for different images for the future of Ukraine, where
the average worker earns just $60 a month.
Yanukovich sees future prosperity in closer ties with Russia. Yushchenko
favors gradual integration with western Europe but recognizes Russia as a
strategic partner.
The crisis has raised tension between the United States and Russia, battling
for influence over the ex-Soviet state.
Nationalist western Ukraine, like Kiev, has taken a strong pro-Yushchenko
line. But the mood of near-revolution seen in Kiev was markedly different from
that in Russian-speaking regions that heavily back Yanukovich.
In Donetsk, a big coal-mining center, slogans were pinned to fences
denouncing Yushchenko as a traitor. Protests supporting Yanukovich were being
held in pits and factories. Miners were trying to get to Kiev to counter
opposition rallies.
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