Ukraine elections 'can't be called honest'
Ukraine Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych has warned that Sunday’s presidential revote might not be considered fair because election law reforms aimed at preventing fraud could deprive millions of Ukrainians of their votes.
In Yanukovych’s eastern stronghold of Donetsk, meanwhile, supporters of the prime minister blocked an orange-draped convoy of opposition protesters from entering the industrial city, refusing to let the backers of his rival – Viktor Yushchenko – continue their campaign to rally support.
With four days to go until the Boxing Day court-ordered rerun, tensions are running high in this ex-Soviet republic of 48 million, located between the expanding European Union and a reinvigorated Russia.
In a pre-recorded televised address last night on state television, Yanukovych complained about the new restrictions on home voting that were passed by parliament earlier this month.
Abuse of home voting was one of the reasons leading to the Supreme Court’s decision to annul the November 21 presidential runoff, strip Yanukovych of his victory over Yushchenko and order Sunday’s unprecedented revote.
“The upcoming election can’t be called honest for many reasons,” Yanukovych said.
Yushchenko was scheduled to broadcast his campaign message tonight, after he and his supporters lead a rally in Kiev’s Independence Square that is expected to draw tens of thousands of supporters. The rally marks the one-month anniversary of the so-called “orange revolution” that began following the fraudulent runoff.
The protesters’ once rollicking tent camp erected on Kiev’s tree-lined main street now resembles an out-of-season campground – many of the tents are still there, but only the grimy, shivering stalwarts remain.
Nevertheless, the opposition has kept up the pressure and tried to spread its message with a 50-car convoy of opposition protesters – dubbed the “friendship journey” – that has been travelling this France-sized nation to promote Yushchenko.
The protesters want to take their message to eastern Ukraine, a Russian-speaking region where Yanukovych draws most of his support.
The mainly Russian-speaking east has close historical ties to Russia and fears being marginalised by Yushchenko and his base in the Ukrainian-speaking west. Yanukovych’s posters are plastered all over Donetsk.
Moreover, most Donetsk residents watch Russian television, which has shown open favouritism toward Yanukovych and was highly critical of the mass protests in Kiev.
Earlier, as many as 3,000 young Yanukovych supporters rallied in Donetsk and burned an effigy of Yushchenko and his fiery ally, Yuliya Tymoshenko.
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