Ukrainian Election Result Suspended Due to Tymoshenko Appeal
Ukraine's Administrative Court has suspended the results of the country's February 7 runoff presidential election while it considers an appeal filed by Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Party of Regions leader Viktor Yanukovych defeated Tymoshenko in the election by 3.48% of the vote. Yanukovych's inauguration is currently scheduled for February 25.
Despite the declaration by international election monitors that the vote was free and fair, Tymoshenko claims the vote was fraudulent. Yesterday, Tymoshenko submitted to the court what she said is evidence of election fraud. Tymoshenko claims to have uncovered evidence of fraud in favor of Yanukovych at every polling station in Crimea, possibly accounting for over 1 million votes. She also claims to have the support of several individual OSCE observers and videos of their assessments. The OSCE has denied the existence of any videos that support Tymoshenko's claims.
At this point, I'm not sure what to believe. However, it is interesting that Tymoshenko is limiting her fight to the courts. She says she will not be arranging any public protests, similar to the 2004 Orange Revolution.
Is it possible that Tymoshenko is not calling for public protests because she does not have credibility with the Ukrainian people to successfully arrange for such a gathering? By not calling for public protests, Tymoshenko appears to be making this a personal issue instead of fighting for the rights of the Ukrainian people to have a fair election.
Despite the declaration by international election monitors that the vote was free and fair, Tymoshenko claims the vote was fraudulent. Yesterday, Tymoshenko submitted to the court what she said is evidence of election fraud. Tymoshenko claims to have uncovered evidence of fraud in favor of Yanukovych at every polling station in Crimea, possibly accounting for over 1 million votes. She also claims to have the support of several individual OSCE observers and videos of their assessments. The OSCE has denied the existence of any videos that support Tymoshenko's claims.
At this point, I'm not sure what to believe. However, it is interesting that Tymoshenko is limiting her fight to the courts. She says she will not be arranging any public protests, similar to the 2004 Orange Revolution.
Is it possible that Tymoshenko is not calling for public protests because she does not have credibility with the Ukrainian people to successfully arrange for such a gathering? By not calling for public protests, Tymoshenko appears to be making this a personal issue instead of fighting for the rights of the Ukrainian people to have a fair election.
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