Gloves off in Ukraine’s presidential debate

UKRAINE’S two presidential candidates faced off yesterday in a televised debate less than a week before a rerun of their election, with opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko accusing his rival of trying to steal the November 21 run-off vote.

Prime minister Viktor Yanukovych responded by saying Mr Yushchenko was dragging up past accusations and refusing to look forward to Ukraine’s future.

Mr Yushchenko, wearing a tie and a handkerchief in his orange campaign colours, was the first to speak, telling the television audience in Ukrainian that “the reason that collected us here today was that the results of the November 21 votes were stolen ... by my opponent and his team.”