Regions Party leader Victor Yanukovych said at a meeting with an OSCE election observation mission on Wednesday that he is afraid Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko might rig the presidential election.
"We have a lot of different types of warnings. We know that the current government will try to rig the election. Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko will head this process," he said.
Yanukovych said that during the election campaign, the Ukrainian premier would continue to use the administrative resource (using the government apparatus to affect the vote outcome), pressurize voters, and "even bribe them in some cases."
He said that the Regions Party hopes for cooperation and "close contacts" with the OSCE election observation mission.
Yanukovych expressed hope that such cooperation would result in the ability to create an election anti-rigging system.
"We think that such cooperation with you will bring benefit to Ukraine’s in the issues of promoting democracy, human rights and creating the necessary conditions to strengthen democratic values," he said.
