Sunday, Dec 05, 2004
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By Vladimir Radyuhin
MOSCOW, DEC. 4. Ukraine's Central Election Commission complied with the Supreme Court verdict and set December 26 as the date for a new runoff presidential election.
Disputed poll annulled
On Friday, the country's apex court annulled the disputed November 21 poll and ordered a new ballot as demanded by the pro-Western Opposition leader, Viktor Yushchenko. The court ruled that the runoff was distorted by abuses in regions that supported the Prime Minister, Viktor Yanukovich. Mr. Yanukovich said he would stand in the new runoff against Mr. Yushchenko, but denounced the Supreme Court's verdict as a "violation of the Ukrainian Constitution taken under pressure from the street. Without any doubt, I have no other choice but to run again and to win," Mr. Yanukovich said in a statement. Ukraine's Parliament met on Saturday in a marathon weekend session to amend the electoral law and approve a Constitutional reform that would redistribute powers from the President to Parliament. However, pro-Yushchenko deputies went back on an earlier agreement to vote the proposed bills in a package and refused to support the Constitutional reform. They are confident Mr. Yushchenko will win the new vote.
Split aggravates
The Supreme Court ruling appears to have aggravated a split in Ukraine between pro-Russian south-eastern and pro-Yushchenko western regions. Regional officials from Ukraine's southern and eastern provinces which voted heavily for Mr. Yanukovych gathered for a new meeting on Saturday to warn that Friday's court verdict could foment unrest in the east. Meeting in the eastern city of Kharkiv, an "All-Ukrainian Congress of Legislative Councils" unanimously called on the two presidential contenders not to take part in the December 26 vote "in the name of peace and stability in the country" and warned that the victory of either candidate will be "illegitimate". Delegates called on the President, Leonid Kuchma, to appeal to the Constitutional Court against the Supreme Court's "politically biased" verdict. A week earlier, the south-eastern regions warned they will push for autonomy if Mr. Yushchenko becomes President.
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