Ukraine braces for presidential run off

Ukrainian voters face an array of tensions in the weekend presidential runoff - whether the victor will be a Western-inclined reformer or a Kremlin favourite, and whether unrest will break out if the vote count is alleged to be fraudulent.

Sunday’s vote pits Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, praised by the Kremlin and widely expected to nudge Ukraine into Russia’s sphere of influence, against Viktor Yushchenko, a former prime minister seen as Western-leaning.

Each got about 39% of the vote in the October 31 first round.

International observers criticised the first round as marred by official interference and state media bias heavily favouring Yanukovych, who is backed by Leonid Kuchma, the former Soviet republic’s two-term president.

Yushchenko’s campaign says its supporters have been intimidated and blocked from rallying and police have made a series of arrests of members of a pro-democracy student group.

Canadian elections observer Ruslana Zhevtnevskaya and an Australian journalist, Peter Romanov, were briefly detained in the city of Mykolaiv on suspicion of using a stolen car.

After their release, they said they had seen several students in detention. Mykolaiv is in eastern Ukraine, where support for Yanukovych is heavy.

Yushchenko’s staff announced it will organise an open-air parallel vote count at Kiev’s main square and Yushchenko also warned that the people “will not remain silent” in case of a fraudulent vote.

Yushchenko’s critics allege he intends to foment unrest after the voting, with the aim of seizing power.

Tensions ahead of the run off also are aggravated by unanswered questions about the mysterious ailment that incapacitated Yushchenko for weeks and left his face puffy and riddled with lesions.

Supporters say opponents poisoned him but a parliamentary commission dominated by Yanukovych’s allies claim it was a viral infection that could render him unfit for office.

Yushchenko’s critics frequently label him as an American puppet who could be unduly influenced by his US-born wife. They say he wants to gain power at all costs including civil unrest after the vote.

They also say he is a nationalist capable of splitting Ukraine along ethnic lines between the Ukrainian-speaking west and the Russian-speaking east and would alienate the country from Russia, Ukraine’s key trade partner and main energy supplier.

Yanukovych has been strongly praised by Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of the vote and is seen as likely to strengthen Ukraine’s ties to the Kremlin. However, Yanukovych drew his biggest cheers of a campaign rally today when he declared Ukraine “will be a European state.”

Yushchenko said he regards Russia as ”Ukraine’s strategic partner,” but said he wants to push the country to further European integration.