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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Ukraine election upheaval


Supporters of Ukraine's opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko rally in Lviv, Ukraine, on Monday. 
 (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Natasha Lisova Associated Press

KIEV, Ukraine – Tens of thousands of demonstrators jammed downtown Kiev on Monday night, denouncing Ukraine’s presidential runoff election as fraudulent and chanting the name of their reformist candidate who authorities said was trailing in the vote count.

Viktor Yushchenko stood beaming on a platform with campaign aides and flashed a “V” for victory sign — even though the Central Election Commission said earlier that with nearly all the votes counted, he was losing to Kremlin-backed Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.

“Yushchenko — our president!” chanted the crowd, many of whom waved orange scarves — his campaign color in Independence Square. Others had set up a tent camp along central Khreshchatyk Street, and organizers were inundated with piles of winter clothes donated for protesters expected to arrive from other cities.

The election commission’s announcement galvanized widespread dismay and anger among the former Soviet republic’s 48 million people. The capital’s city council and other municipal governments rejected the official results and a major chocolate factory closed plants in protest.

Although official results, with more than 99 percent of precincts counted, showed Yanukovych with 49.42 percent to 46.70 percent for Yushchenko, several exit polls had found Yushchenko the winner.

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a statement to Yanukovych to congratulate him on the result, Russian news agencies reported, but a group of international observers described Sunday’s balloting as severely flawed.

Observers with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said there were extensive indications of vote fraud, including people apparently voting multiple times and voters being forced to turn over absentee ballots to state employers.

The United States also criticized the balloting.

“It is now apparent that a concerted and forceful program of election-day fraud and abuse was enacted with either the leadership or cooperation of governmental authorities,” said Sen. Richard Lugar, who came to Kiev as President Bush’s envoy.

In Washington, the State Department echoed criticism by the European Union, the OSCE, Freedom House and others and called on Ukraine’s government to investigate the allegations of fraud or risk a changed relationship with the United States. The State Department is not calling for new elections and it is not too late to address concerns, but “quick action on the part of the government of Ukraine is required,” said spokesman Adam Ereli.

Some demonstrators in Kiev waved large Georgian flags, echoing the mass protests a year ago that drove President Eduard Shevardnadze from office in that former Soviet republic after a fraudulent parliamentary election.

“We will not leave this place until we win,” Yushchenko said. “The people’s will cannot be broken. People’s votes cannot be stolen.”

As protesters milled outside the capital’s city council building, its members inside passed a resolution calling on the national parliament to not recognize the election results.

If the parliament doesn’t take action to solve the crisis, “we will have no choice but to block roads, airports, seize city halls,” said Yuliya Tymoshenko, a Yushchenko ally who has been one of the most visible opposition figures.