Rock concert joy as court outlaws 'rigged' election
Ukraine’s parliament is meeting today to set the wheels in motion for a new presidential election, after the disputed run-off was declared void by the Supreme Court.
The court handed a major victory to opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko by cancelling last month’s vote between him and his Kremlin-backed rival, sending opposition supporters into jubilant celebrations.
The decision, which set December 26 for the revote, was also a massive slap to Russia, which had strongly supported prime minister Viktor Yanukovych, fearing Ukraine would tilt further to the West under Yushchenko.
Parliament is meeting in a marathon all-weekend session to pass legislation corresponding to the Supreme Court verdict.
Yushchenko’s supporters are pushing for changes to the membership of the 15-member Central Election Commission and to election law, both of which they say are necessary to help prevent fraud.
After the court issued its decision last night, downtown Kiev took on the air of a massive rock concert, with hundreds of thousands of Yushchenko backers chanting his name, blowing horns and waving balloons and orange flags – his campaign colour.
Passing cars blasted their horns three times to sound out the three syllables in “Yush-chen-ko”.
“We have proven that we are a nation that could defend our choice,” Yushchenko told his supporters gathered at Kiev’s Independence Square. “Justice and freedom are coming back to Ukraine thanks to you, real heroes.”
The crowd, which steadily grew larger after the decision, chanted “Yushchenko! Yushchenko!” during his pauses, and he responded by blowing kisses. Then the throng struck up the national anthem.
Yushchenko urged outgoing president Leonid Kuchma to immediately sack Yanukovych and called for disbanding the Central Election Commission that had declared Yanukovych the winner of the November 21 election.
“Find the courage to do that – stop tormenting the nation,” Yushchenko said.
Yushchenko urged his supporters not to drop their 12-day demonstration in the square. “After such a holiday, I’m asking you not to leave,” he said.
The Supreme Court found the run-off was distorted by abuses such as tampering with voters’ lists and people voting more than once, and it determined that “the violation of the principles of the election law … make it unable to determine the voters’ will”.
The court’s ruling was a sharp rebuke to Kuchma, who had backed Yanukovych, and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who appeared with Yanukovych during the campaign and had already congratulated Yanukovych on winning.
Yushchenko’s appeal pointed to evidence of rampant fraud in eastern regions near the border with Russia, where Yanukovych got most of his votes.
Yanukovych’s representative in court, Stepan Havrysh, said the verdict was a “political decision” that was not backed by evidence. “The court yielded to pressure and was driven by emotions,” Havrysh said.
Neither Kuchma nor Yanukovych commented on the court’s verdict, and Putin, on a state visit to India, also kept silent.
The court ruling cannot be appealed, and the repeat vote is to be held nationwide, rather than only in the districts specifically challenged by Yushchenko.
