Tymoshenko drops appeal contesting Ukraine election results
20/02/201012:26
KIEV, February 20 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine's Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said on Saturday she would withdraw her legal appeal contesting the victory of Viktor Yanukovych in the recent presidential election runoff.
Tymoshenko, who lost the runoff vote by 3.48%, appealed the election results in Ukraine's Supreme Administrative Court on Tuesday. The court then suspended the Central Election Commission's official announcement of Yanukovych's victory in the polls.
"We are withdrawing the appeal," Tymoshenko said at a court meeting.
She explained the court had refused to consider the evidence her team had collected and dismissed the according application.
"In these circumstances we simply see no sense pushing further [for consideration of the case]," the premier said.
Tymoshenko expressed confidence that her appeal would remain as historical proof that "Yanukovych was not elected as a legitimate president."
"When we understood that the court had refused to hear witness statements it was made clear to us that this is not a court and this is not justice," she said.
Asked whether she would appeal to Ukraine's Supreme Court, Tymoshenko said that "was not allowed by law."
A member of the Ukrainian Central Election Commission said on Saturday no withdrawal of Tymoshenko's appeal was possible.
"We believe Ukraine's Supreme Administrative Court should bring down the curtain on any disputes over the legitimacy of the results of the Ukrainian presidential election and the legitimacy of the Central Election Commission's action to draw the results," Mykhailo Okhendovskiy said.
"The Ukrainian people have the right to know that Ukraine's president was elected legitimately, and that the president is Viktor Fyodorovych Yanukovych," the CEC member said.
Ukraine's outgoing President Viktor Yushchenko on Friday criticized Tymoshenko's appeal as disregard for both the law and the electorate's opinion.
"I will try to do my best to see us overcome these challenges through law and legitimacy," Yushchenko said.
