The two major candidates vying for the Ukrainian presidency on Friday re-elaborated their domestic and international policies and action plans while expressing confidence in their victory.

Despite an easing of tension in the country, rivalry between different political camps has remained bitter since last Friday, when the Supreme Court annulled the official results of the Nov. 21 runoff which declared Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich the winner.

The court ruled that a repeat vote be held on Dec. 26.

Yanukovich and his supporters are confident he will win the repeat poll. Taras Chonovil, chief of Yanukovich's election headquarters, predicted on Friday that Yanukovich could win by a much greater margin than last time once their team settle such "technical" issues as election supervision.

Yanukovich's major power bases are in central and northern Ukraine, and he enjoys great popularity in the south and east, too.Some voters did not vote for him on account that he is from the executive authority, but opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko has more "official" background, said Chonovil.

Yanukovich declared on Thursday that he was running as the representative of the 15-million electorate rather than that of the government.

For the upcoming repeat runoff vote, Yushchenko is equally confident, saying he would win in 19 to 20 states of the country.

"I expect the standard of support in the repeat vote on Dec. 26to be over 60 percent, according to a modest count," Yushchenko told a new conference held on Friday.

He rejected the allegation that Ukraine would split should Yanukovich fail to be elected.

Meanwhile, Socialist leader Oleksander Moroz pledged his party's utmost support for Yushchenko. Moroz said on Friday that the newly elected Ukrainian president should abide by the newly amended constitution, which would turn some presidential powers over to parliament.

He said that he did not make an issue of Yushchenko's failure to vote for constitutional amendments, as the parliamentary faction led by Yushchenko had endorsed the amendment in accordancewith their agreement with the Socialist party.

However, Yushchenko told the new conference that he had voted for the amendment of the constitution, but for some unknown reasonhis vote was not counted.

Since the Ukrainian Supreme Court invalidated the results of the Nov. 21 presidential runoff, Russia and the United States havetraded charges of interference.

Both Russia and outgoing President Leonid Kuchma have backed Yanukovich, who sees closer ties with Russia as key to future prosperity.

The Bush administration has spent more than 65 million dollars in the past two years to aid political organizations in Ukraine, paying to bring opposition Yushchenko to meet US leaders and helping to underwrite exit polls indicating he won last month's disputed runoff election, the Associate Press reported.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Yushchenko described Moscow as a "strategic partner," saying that while he understood the nostalgic feeling people bear for Russia, he did not want his country to be described as some colony or feudality of Russia.

Once elected, he would put joining the European Union as his basic diplomatic priority, said Yushchenko.

Yushchenko's camp claimed certain victory on Thursday as Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma signed a presidential decree anddeclared the dismissal of Prosecutor General Hennady Vassilyev under the pressure of The Our Ukraine parliamentary faction -- theleading opposition faction in Ukraine.

Parliament speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn, who won the confidence of various political parties because of his detachment and impartiality, might be trusted to mediate the rivaling parties as "general mediator."