Ukraine Prime Minister Withdraws Election Complaint
VOA News 20 February 2010
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has dropped her legal complaint over her rival's presidential election victory, saying the court is not interested in true justice.
Ms. Tymoshenko made the unexpected announcement Saturday during an appearance at the court in Kyiv.
On Friday, she urged the court to examine carefully all the evidence regarding Ukraine's runoff presidential election, which she said was rigged.
The court had been hearing the prime minister's appeal to block next Thursday's inauguration of her rival, Viktor Yanukovych.
Her announcement apparently clears the way for the president-elect to be inaugurated February 25 as scheduled.
In a telephone conversation Saturday, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev congratulated Mr. Yanukovych on his victory. Following their talk, the Kremlin announced that Mr. Yanukovych will visit Moscow in early March.
During his presidential campaign, Mr. Yanukovych promised to forge closer ties with Russia. He beat Prime Minister Tymoshenko by more than 3.5 percentage points in the February 7 runoff election.
Ms. Tymoshenko has said massive election fraud put in question one million votes and could have affected the outcome. But European election monitors said Ukraine's presidential election was generally free and fair.
Ms. Tymoshenko was one of the main leaders of Ukraine's massive 2004 protests, following a presidential election that initially showed Mr. Yanukovych as the winner. The huge protests over alleged election fraud led to a new vote, won by Viktor Yushchenko.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
