Pro-Russian Opposition Leads Ukraine Parliamentary Race
27 March 2006
Early official results of Ukraine's parliamentary election show the party of pro-Russian opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych has a slight lead over the other contenders, but well short of a majority.
With a little over eight percent of the votes counted Monday, electoral officials say Mr. Yanukovych's Regions Party has garnered nearly 25 percent of the votes.
The liberal party bloc led by former Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko is in second place with just over 24 percent support.
Pro-West President Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine Party looks poised for a distant third-place finish with about 17 percent of the seats in the 450-seat parliament.
Mr. Yushchenko's coalition government split last year when he fired Ms. Timoshenko for alleged corruption.
Complete results are not expected until Tuesday.
Falling short of a majority, the winning party will have to form a coalition government.
President Yushchenko has said he will talk with all parties in the new parliament that will choose a prime minister under the terms of the new Ukrainian constitution. Mr. Yanukovych also has invited other parties to join in a coalition.
Ms. Timoshenko has indicated she wants any deal with her bloc to include her reinstatement as prime minister.
Mr. Yushchenko was swept to power after weeks of peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations in Ukraine following a flawed 2004 presidential election that Mr. Yanukovych initially won.
The Supreme Court threw out the results amid charges of fraud. The demonstrations became known as the "Orange Revolution," because activists used Mr. Yushchenko's campaign color - orange - as a symbol of their pro-democracy movement.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
