The end of weeks of political turmoil in the Ukraine was in sight on Tuesday after the pro-Europe Viktor Yushchenko was officially declared the winner of a re-run presidential vote, paving the way for the inauguration of the ”orange revolution” hero.
”During the repeat election of December 26, Viktor Yushchenko has been elected president of Ukraine,” central election commission chief Yaroslav Davydovich announced late on Monday to applause and cheers at the end of a seven-hour meeting in Kiev.
”Yu-shchen-ko! Yu-shchen-ko!” chanted the winner’s supporters packed into the commission meeting room as they unfurled an orange flag, symbol of their standardbearer’s campaign.
Monday’s announcement paved the way for Parliament to set a date for Yushchenko’s inauguration, despite vows by his defeated rival, pro-Russian former prime minister Viktor Yanukovich, to keep up a legal challenge over the election.
”This is the happiest day of my life,” said Petro Poroshenko, a deputy in Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine bloc and one of the four leading candidates for the post of prime minister.
”Ukraine has proved that it is a European country… A new country and a new government were born today,” he said.
Nester Shuffrich, a Yanukovich representative at the commission, promised to appeal the results in the Supreme Court.
”Unfortunately the election results have been determined with violations of the election law and the Constitution,” he said. ”We will discuss these violations tomorrow or the next day at the Supreme Court.”
Yanukovich has vowed to exhaust all his avenues for appeal, in what many observers say is an attempt to boost his image as a Yushchenko adversary ahead of next year’s crucial parliamentary elections.
According to the final results, Yushchenko won the election with 51,99% of all votes cast compared with 44,20% received by Yanukovich, a difference of 2,27-million votes on turnout of 77,19%.
Yushchenko’s inauguration will put an end to weeks of political turmoil which flared following the now-discredited November election to choose a successor to the 10-year hardline regime of outgoing leader Leonid Kuchma in the strategic former Soviet republic.
The December 26 rematch between Yushchenko and Yanukovich was set after the Supreme Court threw out results of a November 21 runoff, which election officials said was won by Yanukovich, because of massive fraud.
The ruling sparked massive ”orange revolution” protests as hundreds of thousands of people descended on Kiev to support their standardbearer.
The standoff between the Russia-friendly regime of Kuchma, who had annointed Yanukovich his successor, and the Western-leaning Yushchenko rippled internationally, with Washington and Brussels backing the opposition leader while Moscow lined up behind the prime minister.
Yushchenko’s official swearing-in ceremony is expected to take place in Parliament, followed by a symbolic one on Kiev’s Independence Square — the epicentre of Yushchenko’s ”orange revolution” that roiled the nation and echoed on the world stage.
”It’ll be flashy and interesting, with twists,” Oleksander Zinchenko, Yushchenko’s campaign manager, promised during a press conference in Kiev on Monday.
Many in Kiev speculate that the inauguration could take place this week, perhaps on Friday — New Year’s Day in the Julian calendar used by the Orthodox Church to which most Ukrainians adhere. – Sapa-AFP