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From the Turkish Daily news. The whole article is here due to registration requirements.
Ukraine's election hung in the balance yesterday, with a pro-Western coalition maintaining a fragile lead over Moscow-backed rivals, but both sides claiming victory amid claims of fraud.
Both pro-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and Orange Revolution firebrand Yulia Tymoshenko, who is allied with pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko, declared they had won Sunday's parliamentary election.
Reflecting tensions, Yanukovych's Regions Party bolstered its presence on Kiev's central square, the scene of countless demonstrations over the last three years. Their blue tents were dotted across the historic plaza known as the Maidan, apparently in a bid to control the territory.
‘Ballot fraud':
Yushchenko, who led the 2004 “Orange Revolution” with Tymoshenko, ordered a police investigation into possible ballot fraud in the east of the country, Yanukovych's stronghold.
Yulia Yershova, a spokeswoman for Yushchenko's Our Ukraine/People's Self Defense bloc, said, "we are anxious about possible fraud."
The latest vote count showed Tymoshenko and Yushchenko's Orange coalition maintaining a thin lead over any coalition that their archrival Yanukovych might be able to assemble.
With 96.4 percent of ballots counted their two parties combined had 45.14 percent of the vote.
The Regions Party was set to be the biggest in parliament with 34.14 percent. He also has the support of the Communists with 5.36 percent.
However, even if Yanukovych also secured support from the small Lytyvn party, his coalition would control no more than 43.46 percent.
Key role of socialists:
That meant the entire election could hang on the fate of the small Socialist party, which supports Yanukovych and could play the role of kingmaker.
At last count, the Socialists had 2.93 percent of the vote, just under the minimum barrier of three percent for being awarded seats.
The main Western monitoring group, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, gave Sunday's election a clean bill of health."The elections met levels of well-accepted European standards," said Adrian Severin, a European Parliament member in the observer team.
Ukraine's election hung in the balance yesterday, with a pro-Western coalition maintaining a fragile lead over Moscow-backed rivals, but both sides claiming victory amid claims of fraud.
Both pro-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and Orange Revolution firebrand Yulia Tymoshenko, who is allied with pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko, declared they had won Sunday's parliamentary election.
Reflecting tensions, Yanukovych's Regions Party bolstered its presence on Kiev's central square, the scene of countless demonstrations over the last three years. Their blue tents were dotted across the historic plaza known as the Maidan, apparently in a bid to control the territory.
‘Ballot fraud':
Yushchenko, who led the 2004 “Orange Revolution” with Tymoshenko, ordered a police investigation into possible ballot fraud in the east of the country, Yanukovych's stronghold.
Yulia Yershova, a spokeswoman for Yushchenko's Our Ukraine/People's Self Defense bloc, said, "we are anxious about possible fraud."
The latest vote count showed Tymoshenko and Yushchenko's Orange coalition maintaining a thin lead over any coalition that their archrival Yanukovych might be able to assemble.
With 96.4 percent of ballots counted their two parties combined had 45.14 percent of the vote.
The Regions Party was set to be the biggest in parliament with 34.14 percent. He also has the support of the Communists with 5.36 percent.
However, even if Yanukovych also secured support from the small Lytyvn party, his coalition would control no more than 43.46 percent.
Key role of socialists:
That meant the entire election could hang on the fate of the small Socialist party, which supports Yanukovych and could play the role of kingmaker.
At last count, the Socialists had 2.93 percent of the vote, just under the minimum barrier of three percent for being awarded seats.
The main Western monitoring group, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, gave Sunday's election a clean bill of health."The elections met levels of well-accepted European standards," said Adrian Severin, a European Parliament member in the observer team.
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