Ukraine's Tymoshenko threatens to replay orange revolution
04/02/201020:45
KIEV, February 4 (RIA Novosti) - Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who is facing a presidential runoff on Sunday against frontrunner Viktor Yanukovych, threatened on Thursday to replay the "orange revolution" over presidential election amendments.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko signed on Thursday amendments canceling the two-thirds quorum required for electoral commissions' decisions to be legal.
"If the law comes into force, we will urge people to take to the street," Tymoshenko warned earlier on Thursday, reviving memories of the 2004 protests.
On Wednesday, she demanded that the outgoing Ukrainian leader veto the amendments initiated by the Yanukovych-led Party of Regions.
The opposition party was pushing for the quorum to be canceled, saying Tymoshenko's bloc could frustrate the second round on Sunday by requesting its representatives not to attend electoral commission sessions.
Tymoshenko's bloc said the cancelation could result in ballot falsifications as the presence of representatives of only one political force would be allowed.
Anna German, Party of Regions deputy chairperson, said Tymoshenko's supporters were gathering in the Lvov Region in western Ukraine, where their leader enjoys most support, to set off for Kiev.
"I have just received a phone call from Lvov saying that Tymoshenko has started collecting people in the Lvov Region. However, very few people have arrived so far; there are six buses waiting at the regional administration building in Lvov, but there are not enough people to fill them up," German said.
German described Party of Regions people as "disciplined" who she said would not want a repetition of the 2004 revolution.
Kiev's central Independence Square was a venue for protests from late November 2004 to January 2005. The Orange Revolution was triggered by reports from election observers that the runoff between Yushchenko and Yanukovych had been rigged in favor of the latter.
Yushchenko garnered about 52% of the vote in the third runoff held in late December 2004, and his inauguration on January 23, 2005 put an end to the protests.
Mykola Azarov, who heads the Yanukovych election camp, expressed doubt that Tymoshenko would call protests in downtown Kiev, saying that a mere 2% of the population had confidence in the premier.
"She will not bring anyone [to Independence Square]; just 2% of the population trust the prime minister," he said.
Earlier this week, a court in Kiev banned rallies on Independence Square throughout February.
Azarov said, however, the Tymoshenko bloc was preparing to stuff ballots on Sunday.
"We are doing our best for the voting to take place with utmost ... transparency," Azarov said.
The latest reports said Yushchenko had fired Viktor Bondar, the head of the Dnepropetrovsk Region administration, over his pledge to support Tymoshenko in the runoff.
