Tens of thousands of people took to the street Tuesday in this Ukrainian
capital city to demand that their leader Viktor Yushchenko be recognized as the
winner of a contested presidential election.
Yushchenko, who had been declared Sunday a loser to acting Prime Minister
Viktor Yanukovich, called on his supporters here to march to the parliament
building, the Rada, to demand the annulment of Sunday's election results.
"I ask you in an organized and peaceful manner to start marching towards the
Rada (parliament)," Yushchenko told the Kiev crowd.
Yushchenko's supporters took to the street after official results released
Monday show that Viktor Yanukovich won the presidential run-off in this former
Soviet republic by a three percent margin.
The opposition and international observers have said the vote was rigged.
Reports here said the western opposition stronghold of Lviv also saw
protesters in the street to demand that Yushchenko be recognized the winner of
the election.
Ukraine's parliament was due to meet in an extraordinary session later
Tuesday, after the municipal assembly of Kiev refused to recognize the official
ballot results and urged the legislature to follow suit.