Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's party headed for victory in parliamentary elections tainted by the jailing of the country's top opposition leader, preliminary results showed Monday.
Despite a
strong showing of pro-Western opposition parties, Yanukovych’s Party of
Regions appeared set to retain its parliamentary majority with its
candidates leading in individual races across the country.
With
former Premier Yulia Tymoshenko in jail and widespread fears of election
fraud, the West is paying close attention to the vote in the strategic
ex-Soviet state, which lies between Russia and the European Union, and
serves as a key conduit for transit of Russian energy supplies to many
EU countries.
With votes counted at some 30 percent of polling
stations nationwide on Monday morning, Party or Regions was ahead with
37 percent in the proportional share of the vote. The Regions also were
poised to win some 115 seats out of the 225 total seats allocated in
individual races, meaning Yanukovych loyalists would likely get a
majority of votes in the 450-member parliament.
International
observers were to issue their verdict on the fairness of the vote later
on Monday. An election deemed undemocratic by the West could freeze
Kiev’s ties with the European Union it aspires to join and push Ukraine toward Moscow.
“We
believe that this is an indisputable victory of the Party of Regions,”
Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said Sunday night after polls closed.
“Above all, it shows the people’s trust to the (policy) course that is
being pursued.”
With Yanukovych under fire over the jailing of his
top rival, Tymoshenko, rampant corruption and slow reforms, the
opposition made a strong showing. Tymoshenko’s party came in with some
20 percent of the vote, the pro-Western Udar (Punch) party led by boxing
champion Vitali Klitschko third with 13 percent and the far-right
Svoboda (Freedom) party had 8 percent of the vote. The Communists,
Yanukovych’s traditional allies, had some 15 percent of the vote,
according to preliminary proportional results.
“This clearly shows that the people of Ukraine support the opposition, not the government,” Tymoshenko ally Arseniy Yatsenyuk said.
Opposition
parties alleged widespread violations on election day, such as
vote-buying and multiple voting, but an independent local election
monitor said it remains to be seen whether the violations would
significantly affect the overall elections results. Authorities insisted
the election was honest and democratic.
