Foreign Correspondence

[StephanieVanbryce]

US rejects the results of the Ukrainian election
By Philippe Naughton, Times Online

November 24, 2004


The United States has said that it cannot accept the results of the presidential election in Ukraine as legitimate.

Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, urged Ukraine’s leaders to "respond immediately" or "there will be consequences" in relations between the two countries.

Mr Powell intervened in the gathering crisis after Ukraine's central electoral commission today formally declared Viktor Yanukovych the winner of Sunday's disputed presidential election, which international observers say was deeply flawed.

The commission's support for Mr Yanukovych, the pro-Russian prime minister, sharply heightened the risk that a peaceful mass demonstration by hundreds of thousands of his pro-Western opponent's supporters might turn to violence.

Mr Powell said: "What we are trying to do is to use diplomacy and to use diplomatic actions to resolve this. We are not looking for a contest with Russia, we are looking for a way to ensure that the will of the Ukrainian people is reflected, and get an outcome that will truly reflect their desires."

The commission said that Mr Yanukovych, the country's Russian-backed Prime Minister, had won 49.61 per cent of the vote against 46.61 per cent for Viktor Yushchenko, his Western-leaning rival for the presidency.

That three-point lead equates to around one million votes, but official election observers from the EU and US alleged widespread fraud after exit polls showed that Mr Yushchenko enjoying a lead of up to 11 points.

Allegations include the destruction of ballot boxes, abuse of the absentee ballot system - and even handing out pens with invisible ink to Yushchenko voters.

The opposition leader's supporters, dressed in his campaign orange, have taken over large parts of Kiev in three straight days of protests.

Even as the announcement was made by Serhiy Kivalov, the head of the commission, Yushchenko supporters on the electoral body shouted "Shame! Shame!" and rowdy scuffles broke out between MPs from either side.

Within minutes, some protesters began heading from their encampment on Kiev's central avenue to the presidential administration building, scene of a tense stand-off last night with a phalanx of riot police with shields.

"The legal means to resolve this problem have been exhausted. The street will now speak," an opposition deputy, Petro Poroshenko, told reporters after the commission's announcement.

Outside the election commission throngs of Yanukovych supporters celebrated by drinking vodka and shouting their candidate's name. No Yushchenko supporters were seen around the building, but there were rising fears that the two sides eventually could clash.

This afternoon the rival camps gave their first clear hints of a possible compromise that could avert violence in the former Soviet republic.

Mr Yushchenko, a former central banker and prime minister, told a crowd estimated at around 200,000 in Kiev's Independence Square that he would be willing to stand again in a re-run if certain conditions were met. He said: "We are ready for a rerun of the second round, but under the condition that we'll have an honest Central Electoral Commission, and if there's not shameful administrative pressure."

Mr Yanukovych, speaking before the commission's announcement, said in a statement: "I will not accept the results of the presidential election until it is proved to me and the Ukrainian people that they are legitimate and credible in accordance with conditions set down by the constitution."

He added: "I need no fictitious victory, a result which could lead to violence and victims. No position of authority, no matter how important, is worth a single human life."

Leonid Kuchma, the outgoing President who groomed Mr Yanukovych as his successor after ten years in power, told a government meeting he could "categorically rule out the use of force".

President Vladimir Putin backed Mr Yanukovych during the campaign and telephoned him after polls closed to congratulate him on his victory, although he later backed off from endorsing his favourite. Mr Putin today discussed the crisis with Chancellor Schröder and a Kremlin statement said the two men "noted that the post-election situation must be resolved based on the current Ukrainian legislation concerning elections".

Tonight Mr Powell said that a new election was one possible answer to the impasse, but that a wide range of possible solutions should be considered.

"This is the time for all kinds of suggestions to be examined in the light of the law," he said. "Hopefully the parties, acting reasonably and doing all they can to resist the use of force, will find a solution."

In The Hague, the Dutch Government, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, said it would send an envoy to Kiev to help resolve the crisis peacefully. Poland also sent a special presidential envoy to its eastern neighbour.

The depth of EU concern was demonstrated earlier by Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, who told MEPs: "The country is now at the crossroads. We cannot rule out the outbreak of violence."

Olexander Kuzmuk, the Defence Minister, said in a statement to soldiers today that Sunday's election had taken place "in conformity with the law".

But Mr Kuzmuk rejected ideas that the military was about to intervene in the dispute. "Despite all the rumours and provocative statements, I want to assure you that there have been no unplanned movements of troops or military equipment. And there will be no such movements in future," he said.


Copyright 2004 Times Newspapers Ltd.