Ukraine election appeal hearing resumes

Ukraine’s Supreme Court began its second day of hearings today on an opposition appeal against the bitterly disputed presidential runoff.

The opposition is asking the court to annul the results of the November 21 election, which found Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych the winner with a margin of 871,402 votes.

Opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko (pictured) claims massive voter fraud robbed him of his victory.

Many Western nations, including the United States, have also refused to recognise the results.

Under Ukrainian legislation, the Supreme Court cannot rule on the overall results but can declare results invalid in individual precincts.

The opposition’s appeal, which began yesterday, is focusing on results in eight eastern and southern Ukrainian regions – more than 15 million votes, almost half of the total cast in the runoff.

In addition to asking the court to annul the results and Yanukovych’s victory, it also asking the court to name Yushchenko the winner because of his narrow first-round win.

Meanwhile, seeking a respite from the mounting opposition pressure with tens of thousands of supporters of Western-leaning candidate Viktor Yushchenko laying siege to Kiev’s official buildings, the country’s outgoing president Leonid Kuchma backed a fresh election to avoid splitting the nation and sending it deeper into chaos.

“If we really want to preserve peace and accord, if we really want to build a democratic state … let’s hold new elections,” said Kuchma, who had backed Yanukovych.

Addressing tens of thousands of supporters who flooded central Kiev for the eighth day, Yushchenko urged them to maintain their vigil despite freezing temperatures. “The next couple of days will bring a solution,” he said, as the crowd shouted his name in support.

He said the opposition expected the court’s verdict soon and added that it would also move today to topple Yanukovych’s cabinet through a no-confidence motion in parliament.

In a sign of a rift in Yanukovych’s camp, Serhiy Tyhypko resigned as his campaign chief and also stepped down as Ukraine’s Central Bank chairman.

Kuchma, meanwhile, warned that the country’s financial system could “fall apart like a house of cards” in “a few days” under the impact of protests that swept the nation of 48 million.

The election crisis has deepened the historically-rooted divide between Ukraine’s pro-Russian east and Yushchenko’s strongholds in the capital and western Ukraine.

Yanukovych had the backing of the Kremlin, which still yields significant political and economic influence over energy-dependent Ukraine.

Yanukovych’s native Donetsk province scheduled an autonomy referendum for Sunday, and other eastern regions threatened to follow suit if Yanukovych is shut out of the presidency.

Yushchenko and his allies urged Kuchma to sack the separatist governors along with Ukraine’s chief prosecutor who had failed to open a criminal investigation against them.

Kuchma warned that “we cannot in any instance allow the disintegration or division of Ukraine”, while US secretary of state Colin Powell called him and urged him to keep his country intact.

The Kharkiv regional council yesterday retracted its threat to introduce self-rule, but the Donetsk region pressed ahead with Sunday’s referendum.

In the eastern city of Luhansk, several dozen Yanukovych supporters armed with brass knuckles and hammers beat about 70 Yushchenko supporters who gathered nearby.

Some 20 people were injured, including a Canadian election monitor, said Yushchenko’s campaign spokesman in Luhansk, Dmytro Malikov.

The opposition has voiced fears that Kuchma or his aides might try to introduce a state of emergency, but Ukraine’s defence minister Oleksandr Kuzmuk firmly ruled it out and said the army would not move against the people.

Kuchma’s critics have expressed concern he might seek a way to cling to power, but he reaffirmed yesterday that he would not run if a new election was held.

Under Ukrainian law, the Supreme Court cannot rule on the overall results but can declare results invalid in individual precincts.

Mykola Katerinchuk, a Yushchenko aide, said the appeal focused on results in eight eastern and southern Ukrainian regions – more than 15 million votes, almost half of the total cast in the run-off.

Yanukovych said he would support a re-vote if allegations of fraud in the election were proven – but that he had yet to see such proof.

The Supreme Court said last week the official election results could not be published until it ruled on Yushchenko’s challenge – effectively blocking Yanukovych’s inauguration.

On Saturday, Ukraine’s parliament passed a non-binding resolution declaring the election invalid.