2004-11-26
I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
Ukrainian officials this week declared Prime Minister Viktor
Yanukovych the winner of Ukraine's presidential election. They say
he defeated opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko in the election last
Sunday. Officials say Mister Yanukovych won forty-nine percent of
the vote. They say Mister Yushchenko received forty-six percent.
But on Thursday, Ukraine's Supreme Court stopped the Central
Elections Commission from officially publishing the election
results. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear objections from Mister
Yushchenko and his supporters on Monday.
Mister Yushchenko says there was widespread cheating in the
election. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,
the European Union and the United States also have criticized the
vote. But Russian observers are dismissing the criticism. Russian
President Vladimir Putin has praised the election as open and
honest.
Since Monday, opposition
supporters have demonstrated in Kiev and other cities to protest the
official election results. On Friday, demonstrators blocked
entrances to government offices in the capital. They also briefly
stopped Prime Minister Yanukovych from entering his office. At the
same time, many mineworkers who support him were entering the city.
The V-O-A reporter in Kiev has said there are fears that Ukraine
could divide if the dispute is not dealt with quickly. Eastern
Ukraine supported Mister Yanukovych in the election. The western
part of the country supported Mister Yushchenko.
Some historians and political scientists say the two men
represent a divide between Russia and Europe. Russia has deep
economic, ethnic and language ties to Ukraine. It considers Ukraine
an important ally. The Russian President attended election campaign
events for Mister Yanukovych.
The Ukrainian Prime Minister wants to strengthen economic and
political ties with Russia. Many of his supporters speak Russian.
The areas where they live depend economically on Russia.
Most supporters of Mister Yushchenko mainly speak Ukrainian. Many
live in Ukraine's largest cities. Mister Yushchenko says he supports
democratic reforms and wants to ease government controls. He also
wants to increase ties between his country and the West.
One year ago, elections for parliament were held in Georgia.
Public protests over that vote led Georgia's President to resign.
On Friday, Ukrainian President
Leonid Kuchma met with the two candidates. European and Russian
officials also attended the meeting. They included European Union
foreign policy chief Javier Solana and President Aleksander
Kwasniewski of Poland. Later, Mister Kuchma announced the creation
of a working group to end the election dispute. He said both
candidates agreed to stand against any use of force to settle the
crisis.
IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English, was written by Jill Moss and
Jerilyn Watson. I'm Steve Ember.