Tymoshenko asks court to overturn electoral defeat

THE PARTY of Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko has launched legal action to overturn the apparent presidential election victory of opposition leader Viktor Yanukovich, plunging the crisis- hit country into another period of uncertainty.

With only a tiny fraction of ballots still to count, official results put Mr Yanukovich 3.5 per cent ahead of Ms Tymoshenko, but her allies refused yesterday to accept the outcome until the courts rule on allegations of electoral fraud.

“Voting day displayed a cynical violation of Ukrainian law by the teams of Yanukovich, pressure on the electors and a broad arsenal of falsification,” pro-Tymoshenko MP Serhiy Sobolev told parliament.

“Consequently, the Tymoshenko bloc announces that we will defend in the courts your right, our citizens, to honest and transparent elections.”

His colleague Andriy Shkil said: “There have been violations in vote-counting and casting at over 1,000 polling stations across Ukraine . . . We will recognise defeat only after a decision by the courts. We will appeal both the preparation and conduct of the election.”

Ms Tymoshenko has kept an uncharacteristically low profile since Sunday’s vote, but a Ukrainian newspaper quoted her as telling party members: “I will never recognise the legitimacy of Yanukovich’s victory with such elections.”

Ms Tymoshenko came to power as prime minister alongside Viktor Yushchenko as president in the Orange Revolution, a wave of protests five years ago which overturned Mr Yanukovich’s fraudulent 2004 election “victory” and turned Ukraine on to a pro-western path.

Their partnership soon turned into a power struggle, however, stymying reforms, paralysing Ukraine as it was gripped by economic crisis and allowing the more Russia-friendly Mr Yanukovich to make a comeback.

“If Tymoshenko does not accept the will of the Ukrainian people, does not accept the results of the elections and continues to push Ukraine into political chaos, she risks turning herself from the heroine of the Orange Revolution into its executioner,” Mr Yanukovich said yesterday.

Unlike in 2004, international monitors praised the conduct of Sunday’s election and called for a smooth transition of power.