Yushchenko officially declared winner in Ukraine's presidential election
11/1/2005 14:51
Opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko was officially declared winner in
Ukraine's presidential election late Monday, while his competitor, Viktor
Yanukovych, vowed an immediate appeal against the results to the Supreme
Court.
"The Central Election Commission declares Viktor Yushchenko elected
president of Ukraine," announced Yaroslav Davydovych, chief of the
commission.
West-leaning Yushchenko won 51.99 percent of the votes against
44.20 percent for Russia-supported Yanukovych in the re-runoff on Dec. 26, 2004,
according to the commission.
The parliament will set a date for Yushchenko's
inauguration should the final results be approved by the Supreme Court and
published in two official gazettes.
After the announcement, Yanukovych's
representative at the commission, Nestor Shufrich, vowed to appeal immediately
to the Supreme Court against the results.
"Unfortunately the election results
have been determined with violations of the election law and the constitution,"
he said, pledging "we will discuss these violations tomorrow or the next day at
the Supreme Court."
"The situation since Nov. 25, (2004) has the character of
a revolution, which makes it impossible to clearly determine the will of the
people of Ukraine," he said.
Yanukovych's campaign manager also said Monday
that a massive legal action was being prepared which will prove the widespread
fraud in the re-runoff.
An official of the US government said Washington will
not formally congratulate Yushchenko until all the complaints by Yanukovych are
dealt with by Ukraine's Supreme Court.
Yanukovych won a disputed presidential
runoff on Nov. 21, 2004, triggering weeks of protests by Yushchenko's
supporters. The Supreme Court later annulled the election results and ruled for
a re-vote of the runoff on Dec. 26.
Xinhua
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