‘Total Fraud’ Is Charged in Election in Ukraine
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

MOSCOW – Ukraine’s pro-Western opposition leader, Viktor Yushchenko, has accused authorities of “total fraud” and called for massive street demonstrations in downtown Kiev today after initial results showed the prime minister,Viktor Yanukovich, winning yesterday’s presidential run-off vote.
The Central Election Commission said early today that with 69% of precincts counted, Mr. Yanukovych had 48.58% of the vote, compared with 47.78% for Mr. Yushchenko. About 2% voted against both candidates.
“I believe in my victory but the government today has staged total fraud in the elections,” Mr. Yushchenko told reporters yesterday. “I do not trust the Central Election Commission.”
Exit polls showed Mr. Yushchenko leading, by a variety of margins. One poll, conducted under a program funded by several Western governments, including America, indicated Mr. Yushchenko had 54% of the vote and Mr. Yanukovich had 43%. Another poll showed Mr. Yushchenko ahead by 49.4% to Mr.Yanukovich’s 45.9%.
Up to 10,000 supporters – many sporting the opposition’s trademark orange campaign color – braved freezing temperatures early today to rally for Mr. Yushchenko in the capital’s Independence Square. Most dispersed after the opposition called for them to return at 9 a.m., though some pledged to remain in the cold overnight.
Tensions are high in Kiev amid fears of violence between the opposition and government supporters. Riot police and armored cars are guarding key government buildings.
The Central Election Commission said 77.31% of registered voters cast a ballot yesterday – a high turnout that reflected the importance of the vote and intensity of the election campaign.
The campaign was widely seen as a referendum on whether the ex-Soviet republic of 48 million will move closer to the West or remain in Russia’s sphere of influence. As a buffer zone between Russia and the West, Ukraine is of vital strategic interest. And though it now suffers from a moribund economy, Ukraine is a potential industrial and agricultural powerhouse in Europe.
Mr.Yushchenko ran on a liberal, promarket platform, promising to bring Ukraine into NATO and the European Union. He also vowed to bring an end to the authoritarianism and cronyism that he says is the result of outgoing president Leonid Kuchma’s 10 years in power.He has denounced Mr.Kuchma’s team as “bandits” and said Mr. Yanukovich is unfit to be president because he was convicted of robbery and assault in his youth.
Mr.Yanukovich – Mr. Kuchma’s protege – pledged closer ties with traditional ally Russia and accused his opponent of being a pawn of the West. Keen to protect Russia’s interests in Ukraine, President Putin has vocally supported Mr. Yanukovich and Kremlin advisers have worked on his campaign.
Yesterday’s vote was required after no candidate won an outright majority in the October 31 first-round vote, in which Mr. Yushchenko edged out Mr. Yanukovich by less than one percentage point.
International observers declared the vote seriously flawed, and in a letter to Mr. Kuchma released this weekend, President Bush warned that if the runoff vote was unfair,Washington “will be obliged to review our relations with Ukraine and with individuals who participated in fraud and manipulation.” The Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Richard Lugar, was among thousands of international observers monitoring yesterday’s vote.
Speaking at the rally earlier today, Mr.Yushchenko’s campaign chief,Oleksandr Zinchenko, called on supporters not to allow the government “to cheat you” by falsifying the vote.
“The results of the exit poll show a clear victory for our candidate. We need to defend this victory,” he said.
If it appears the vote is falsified, opposition supporters are hoping to fol low the example of the peaceful revolutions in Serbia in 2000 and last year in fellow ex-Soviet state Georgia. It was a year ago this week that pro-Western reformers under the leadership of New York-educated Mikhail Saakashvilli – now Georgia’s president – overthrew President Shevardnadze’s government.
Speaking on national TV on Saturday, Mr. Kuchma issued a clear warning to the opposition, declaring “there will be no revolution.” He has repeatedly accused opposition supporters of fomenting civil unrest and of planning an armed insurrection. Dozens of opposition activists have been arrested in recent weeks on what they say are trumped-up charges.Adding to the tension, Ukrainian press reported yesterday that a policeman guarding a polling station overnight was found dead of a head injury.
Mr.Yanukovich’s spokesman, Stepan Havrysh, cast doubt on the exit polls, saying their results were “incorrect, unscientific, and even comical.” Serhiy Tyhypko, Mr. Yanukovich’s campaign manager, said his team’s research showed the prime minister leading by up to 5%.
“The final word will be with the Central Election Commission,” Mr. Tyhypko told Ukrainian TV.”We will abide by those results, whatever they are.”
As he voted in the capital early yesterday with his American wife, Mr. Yushchenko predicted he would win, despite attempts to cheat him.
“I want my country to go through an exercise in democracy, so every person shows they are ready to live in a free, democratic, and rich nation. …Of course there will be fraud, but not enough to affect the outcome,” he said.
The tense and often nasty election campaign was marked by accusations of dirty tricks, intimidation, and the use of government resources on Mr. Yanukovich’s behalf. It also featured a number of bizarre twists, including the alleged poisoning of Mr. Yushchenko, who was disfigured and spent three weeks in hospital after falling mysteriously ill early in the campaign.