Ukraine challenger heading for victory

UKRAINE’S opposition figure, Victor Yushchenko, was heading for victory in yesterday’s general election despite claims from his party that the government had tried to manipulate voters.

Exit polls gave Mr Yushchenko 43 per cent of the vote against 36 per cent for the government candidate, Victor Yanukovich, the current prime minister.

The result, if confirmed by official figures out today, means the two men must meet in a second-round run-off in two weeks’ time.

Voting took place amid tight security, with troops drafted into the capital, Kiev, to augment police units amid fears that violence during opposition protests a week ago might be repeated.

An opposition protest scheduled for last night was cancelled after city authorities warned that they might declare a state of emergency, allowing martial law to be imposed.

The interior minister, Mykola Bilokin, also deployed units of volunteer special police units to guard key buildings.

Last weekend more than 50,000 opposition demonstrators protested in the capital, clashing with police and throwing rocks at the election commission headquarters.

Meanwhile, Mr Yushchenko’s office announced that it had evidence of ballot irregularities in four electoral regions, with voters arriving to find their names had not been put on registers.

A run-off in a fortnight is likely to see further tension after weeks of acrimony between the government and opposition supporters over allegations of election manipulation.

Opposition parties have accused the government of trying to skewer the vote by intimidating candidates, disrupting campaign rallies and tampering with voter registration.

This week, 150 journalists from six private TV channels signed a protest letter accusing the state of censorship.

Opposition parties claim the government brought forward a military parade commemorating victory against the Nazis to last week in order to wring propaganda value out of it.

Most sensationally, Mr Yushchenko claims he was deliberately poisoned last month. A bout of sickness has left his face partially paralysed. He was rushed out of the country to Austria for treatment, but any poison used has yet to be identified.

Mr Yushchenko has publicly accused the government of "criminal" actions, but turned up to vote yesterday in a low-key mood with his infant son beside him. He said: "I want to live in a proper country where people respect honest leaders and do not fear them."

Mr Yanukovich brushed off allegations of tampering, insisting his government would win on its record. "The government has done everything to improve lives," he said. "I see no reason for Ukrainians to be worried."

If, as expected, a second round is announced, opposition parties are likely to renew demands for equal airtime on television and the right to hold campaign rallies.

The United States has warned Ukraine that it faces possible sanctions if election violations are found.

The deputy secretary of state, Richard Armitage, warned in a newspaper article last week that the US would consider banning visits from officials blamed for election fraud.

Similar sanctions have been enforced against officials in neighbouring Belarus after allegations of vote rigging there.

This is a pivotal election in Ukraine’s history, marking the end of the ten-year rule of president Leonid Kuchma which was dominated by stagnation and allegations of cronyism and corruption.

At stake in this vote will be the future orientation of Ukraine, whether towards the European Union, its western neighbour, or Russia, to the east.

Since gaining independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine has been in the economic doldrums.

In the past two years, the economy has begun to grow, but poverty is widespread, particularly among the elderly, with the state pension pegged at 30 per month.

A collapse in support for state farms has seen agriculture stagnate. Memories of the time, under the communist regime, when the area was the "breadbasket" of the Soviet Union are distant.

Last week, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, flew into Kiev in what many saw as an effort to throw his weight behind Mr Yanukovich.

The two men, and Mr Kuchma, stood together to review last week’s military parade in a clear signal of the closer ties all three men favour. Mr Putin gave a live TV interview last week endorsing Yanukovich’s record in office, and calling for greater economic co-operation between the two countries.

By contrast, Mr Yushchenko wants to make entry to NATO a high priority, together with an opening of the country to western businesses and closer ties to the European Union.