Ukraine's opposition demanded a recount in 13 constituencies yesterday (5 November), stepping up its campaign against the results of last month's parliamentary election which it says was rigged by President Viktor Yanukovich's ruling party. Meanwhile, the police blocked supporters of the opposition at a rally in Kyiv.
Opposition leaders pressed their demands in talks on Monday night with election officials as 1,500 supporters remained outside the electoral commission's headquarters in Kiev to protest against alleged fraud in the 28 October vote.
After a day of tension, the commission said it was ready to stage a re-run in five of the disputed electoral districts, but that would require parliament's approval and might not completely defuse the situation.
The United Opposition is against the holding of repeat elections in the single-seat constituencies where its candidates claimed victory on 28 October, the head of the council of the united opposition, Arseniy Yatseniuk, was quoted as saying by the Kyiv Post.
"The Central Election Commission has currently proposed cancelling the election results in five constituencies. We won't support the cancellation [of the election results] in the constituencies where we won," he said at a rally outside the building of the Central Election Commission on Monday.
"We are demanding that the Central Electoral Commission announce the result of voting in 13 districts where, according to the final tally, the opposition won," Yatsenyuk also stated.
The demand was signed by Tymoshenko's Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party, Svoboda (Freedom) ultra-nationalists and the UDAR (Punch) party of boxing champion Vitaly Klitschko, and follows international criticism of the election.
"We are not accepting the cheating that is going on," said Klitschko, who is WBC world heavyweight champion.
Observers from the OSCE rights and security body criticised misuse of state money and resources and biased media coverage in the vote run-up, saying democracy had taken a "step backwards" since Yanukovich was elected in February 2010.
On Saturday, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Commissioner Štefan Füle expressed “increased concern” over the vote count. The election is seen as decisive for the future of the EU-Ukraine relations (see background).
Opposition to boycott Parliament?
Opposition leaders Yatsenyuk, Klitschko and Oleh Tyahnybok, the leader of the ultra-nationalsit party Svoboda, said they were prepared to refuse to recognise the election and boycott parliament if their demands were not met.
With most of the votes counted, the ruling Party of Regions won 30.01% of the vote, the United Opposition, 25.52%, the UDAR movement of boxer Vitali Klitschko 13.95%, the Communist Party 13.18% and the ultra-nationalist Svoboda party 10.44%.
Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said on Friday the ruling Party of the Regions had nothing to do with the incidents at the centre of the disputes, saying the overall results – which he said had handed victory to his party – were in line with exit-polls and pre-election surveys.
Even if the opposition was declared the winner in the disputed electoral districts the Party of the Regions would still keep its parliamentary majority as long as it had the support of its traditional communist allies and some independents.
However, a revision of the results could help galvanise anti-Yanukovich forces which have lost momentum since the imprisonment of Yulia Tymoshenko, one of the opposition's most prominent leaders and a former prime minister.