Word awaited from Tymoshenko on Ukraine presidential election

Against a background of apparent hints that she should accept her defeat in Ukraine’s presidential elections, word was awaited from Yulia Tymoshenko on February 9 2010 as to whether she would concede – or contest the result in court.

Results of the second round of voting on February 7 gave a narrow margin of victory to Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Moscow leader who has called on Tymoshenko to concede and to resign as Ukraine’s prime minister.

In a statement on the elections, of which the first round was held on January 17, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said that she welcomed the completion of voting and the "positive assessment" given to the process by the OSCE/ODIHR-led International Election Observation Mission.

"The generally calm atmosphere in which the elections were conducted, the open campaign in the media and the fact that the electorate were provided with a genuine choice represent important achievements in Ukraine’s democratic development," Ashton said.

"I should in particular like to congratulate the people of Ukraine for the high turn out in both rounds of the elections and the strong commitment demonstrated to the democratic process," she said.

Ashton said that the EU "remains committed to deepening the relationship with Ukraine and supporting it in implementing its reform agenda. It looks forward to working with the new president to this end".

Tymoshenko was expected to hold a news conference some time on February 9, after twice postponing addressing the media the previous day, the BBC said.

Joao Soares of the OSCE election observers team told journalists on February 8: "It is now time for the country’s political leaders to listen to the people’s verdict".

Tymoshenko earlier indicated that she would not accept the result, with her camp alleging election irregularities. Before the second round, Tymoshenko said that she might unleash a second Orange Revolution, a reference to the events of six years ago that saw popular protests bring about a change of power in Kyiv.

In turn, Yanukovych’s camp has said that they would "defend his victory".

With the EU and the OSCE signalling acceptance of the election process, however, Tymoshenko may lack allies in contesting the result. By the morning of February 9, official reaction from Washington and Moscow was awaited.

Source:

Ukraine election result rejected

Yulia Tymoshenko, the loser of Sunday's Ukrainian election, "will never" accept the legitimacy of winner Viktor Yanukovich as the country's president, a Ukrainian newspaper quoting her as saying today.

"I will never recognise the legitimacy of of Yanukovich's victory with such elections," the Ukrainska Pravda daily cited Ms Tymoshenko, who is currently Ukraine's prime minister, as telling a meeting of her party yesterday evening.

Ms Tymoshenko had instructed her lawyers to prepare to contest the electoral results in court, the newspaper's website reported. She also suggested holding a third round of voting, the newspaper added.

Her officials could not immediately be reached for comment on the report.

Ms Tymoshenko postponed a news conference she had been scheduled to hold yesterday until today.

Ukrainska Pravda reported that some members of Ms Tymoshenko's party disagreed with her, calling instead for her to acknowledge defeat, step down as prime minister and move into opposition.

Mr Yanukovich, who won the election by a slender 2.9 per cent margin with nearly all votes counted, has called on Ms Tymoshenko to concede defeat.

Western observers declared the elections to be broadly free and fair and in line with democratic standards

Source:irishtimes.com/