Outgoing president backs Ukraine poll

OUTGOING Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma bowed to street protests and international pressure yesterday and backed a new presidential election to end a crisis that is tearing the nation apart.

"If we really want to preserve peace and consensus and build this just democratic society of which we speak so much but have failed to carry out in a legal way, let us have new elections," Mr Kuchma said in a statement.

Mr Kuchma shifted his position away from backing his ally, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, as the official winner of the November 21 poll, as the Supreme Court tried to resolve the election stalemate.