West-leaning opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko took an landslide victory on Monday in Ukraine´s re-run presidential election. With about 97 percent of Sunday´s ballot counted, election officials said Yushchenko had a statistically unbeatable lead, with almost 53 percent against just under 44 percent for Moscow-backed Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, whose campaign manager said there had been three million illicit votes and did not rule out legal challenges that could delay a final official result for days, reports HRH project coordinator Vugar Gojayev from Donetsk. (27-DEC-2004)
So far, the official results have not declared yet, but will be announced next week, with possible legal challenges from Mr Yanukovych, who has closer ties with the Russian Federation and has strong support in Ukraine´s russian -speaking industrial east. Yanukovych had not yet conceded defeat.
Appeal
“Now, today, the Ukrainian people have won. I congratulate you,” Yushchenko told a jubilant crowd in Kiev´s Independence Square, the center of massive protests following the Nov. 21 presidential runoff that was annulled after fraud allegations. We have been independent for 14 years but we were not free. Now we can say this is a thing of the past. Now we are facing an independent and free Ukraine.”
Pride
“I am convinced that it is fashionable to be a citizen of Ukraine. It is stylish. It is beautiful. Three or four months ago, few people knew where Ukraine was; today, almost the whole world starts its day from thinking about what is happening in Ukraine. Thousands of people that were and are at the square were not only waiting for this victory but they were creating it. In some time, in a few years, they´ll be able to utter these historic words: Yes, this is my Ukraine and I am proud that I am from this country.”Yushchenko said.
Observation
Some 12,000 foreign observers had watched Sunday´s unprecedented third round to help prevent a repeat of the apparent widespread fraud in November that sparked massive protests after Kremlin favourite Yanukovych was declared the winner. The group of Azerbaijani NGO’s monitored the elections in Ukraine as international observers at the framework of ENEMO Mission, which is a group of civic organizations from 16 countries of the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe. Azerbaijan observers have revealed fraud in several polling stations in Donetsk and Mariopol cities at eastern Ukraine. The major concerns were massive ballot staffing and repeated voting in favour of pro-russian candidate Yanukovich.
Donetsk, which is on the russian speaking eastern side of Ukraine, is the hometown of pro-russian presidentil candidate V. Yanukovich. According to international observers in Ukraine, almost great majority of the people living in Donetsk oblast fearful that Yushchenko´s Western economic policies would mean they would lose jobs,state subsidies and all coal mines would be closed down. Those people do not welcome Yushchenko´s win and said they would protest against his victory. But the leading eastern town of Donetsk remained quiet so far and no congretaion of people has been noticed. It seems, Yushchenko´s working with eastern Ukraine will face hardships in the early stages of his presidency.
Pledges
The west-leaning Mr Yushchenko, an economist and banker by training and prime minister between 1999 and 2001, is regarded as a pro-Western liberal reformer. Yushenko wants to align Ukraine, its economic potential squandered by years of mismanagement, with central and western Europe, fanning concerns in neighboring the Russian Federation that it will lose influence over a region where it held sway for 300 years. He has mainly promised to end corruption and reform and modernize the ex-Soviet state´s damaged economy and improve ties with the European Union, which Ukraine adheres to join.
On the other hand, during teh pre-election period the Kremlin-backed Yanukovych pledged tightening the Slavic country´s ties with the Russian Federation as a means of maintaining stability.
Attitudes
The Georgian President, who came to power as aresult of the the famous rose revolution in Georgia, has officially congratulated Yushchenko and expressed his confidence for close cooperation between Georgia and Ukraine.
Russia, who was very supportive to Yanukovich, is now distancing itself from the policy of backing Mr Yanukovych.Already, Russian commentators have rushed to set out what they see as the consequences for the Russian Federation, and for Russo-Ukrainian relations. Some and the public recognition of his ´victory´ after a second round marred by allegations of widespread fraud. The Russia´s hard-line, nationalist MP Dmitry Rogozin has promised that the top Kremlin spin-doctors, who helped to shape the Yanukovych campaign, will “pay” for their failures.
It is clear now that the Russia´s capacity is limited after the defeat of Mr Yanukovych, the candidate Moscow directly backed with money, moral support, advertising and TV airtime.
