Orange Revolution leaders set to win elections in Ukraine

UKRAINE:Exit polls suggested last night that allies of the leaders of Ukraine's 2004 Orange Revolution, President Viktor Yushchenko and Yulia Tymoshenko, had beaten Russian-backed prime minister Viktor Yanukovich in a hard-fought general election.

The polls showed Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko (BYuT) had surpassed pre-election predictions by taking about 32 per cent of votes, while Mr Yushchenko's Our Ukraine party claimed around 13 per cent.

The premier's Regions Party was believed to have taken about 35 per cent of ballots, and their Communist allies about 5 per cent.

If confirmed today, the tally would clear the way for Mr Yushchenko and his ex-prime minister Ms Tymoshenko to re-form a coalition that collapsed in acrimony just months after the Orange Revolution, opening the way for Mr Yanukovich's comeback.

Mr Yanukovich's aides have already aired fears of vote-rigging by the Orange team, however, suggesting potential legal challenges and protests to the result.

"The choice is between two alternatives - false stability, and change," Mr Yushchenko (53) said as he cast his ballot in the capital, Kiev.

"I'm convinced that today the nation will opt for change. I think that the elections will bring Ukraine mutual understanding and tolerance between political forces, stability and economic growth.

"Today's elections will be democratic, no one will dare to falsify them," he declared, adding of the post-election period: "There will be emotions, but these will be just episodes. I'm sure that the political community will find mutual understanding."

His would-be ally, Yulia Tymoshenko, struck a similar note after voting in her home town of Dnipropetrovsk, close to the eastern heartland of Mr Yanukovich's support.

"I'm convinced that these elections will end the crisis," she said, insisting that a reunited "orange team" would quickly form a government and get down to work.

Mr Yanukovich (57) said he was sure "that we will win and form a coalition. The results of the elections will be not cheated and we will not have early elections in Ukraine in future.

"Ukraine will continue to serve as a reliable bridge between East and West. Ukraine's European perspective remains unchanged," he added.