Cries of fraud stir pot before Ukraine vote

[joeblow]

Cries of fraud stir pot before Ukraine vote
Thu, 14 Jan 2010 08:02:17 GMT

http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=1 ... =351020606



Tymoshenko's remarks demonstrate Ukraine's political disarray.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko stokes tension before the presidential vote by accusing her rival of anticipated fraud.

In an attack against the former prime minister Viktor Yanukovich, seen as her main challenger, Tymoshenko said a "deliberate disruption of the election process" was taking place.

The premier alleged that Yanukovich's Party of the Regions was organizing a massive scheme in the east of the country, where his power base is located.

"Such monstrous falsification didn't even happen in 2004," she stressed.

Tymoshenko's remarks point to the October 2004 election in which fraud allegations triggered the Orange Revolution, leading to the cancelation of Yanukovich's official victory.

A re-run vote propelled Tymoshenko and her then-ally, President Viktor Yushchenko, to power.

Yanukovich has shrugged off Tymoshenko's accusations.

"How can the opposition falsify results? Only the authorities have that ability $#0151;they have the mechanism, the structure, the interior ministry," he told journalists on Wednesday.

"Her comments... show that a guilty mind betrays itself," Yanukovich added.

On Tuesday, Tymoshenko herself was the subject of a vehement attack by another rival, Yushchenko.

The pro-Western president said victory for either Tymoshenko or Yanukovich "will return us to the swamp for decades."

He also renewed a charge that his two rivals were part of a single Kremlin coalition force.

The bickering among the political elite in the run-up to Sunday's election has highlighted the extent to which the Orange euphoria of 2004 has faded.

The latest opinion polls show that Yushchenko has little chance of being re-elected, while most observers predict that Tymoshenko and Yanukovych will go ahead to the second round of voting.

FF/JG/MB

[Christopher Marlowe]

Yulia Tymoshenko stokes tension