CEC announces final result: Yushchenko wins (01/16/05)

CEC announces final result: Yushchenko wins

by Andrew Nynka
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Ukraine's Central Election Commission announced the official results of the December 26 presidential run-off election, naming Viktor Yushchenko as independent Ukraine's third president. But the country's top court has put Mr. Yushchenko's inauguration on hold, as presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych announced plans to appeal the overall election before the Supreme Court.

In the wake of a petition from Mr. Yanukovych, Ukraine's Supreme Court barred two official government newspapers from publishing the results. Both Holos Ukrainy and Uriadovyi Curier must publish the CEC's official protocol announcing the results of the election before the Verkhovna Rada, can set a date for the inauguration.

Though the process of inaugurating Mr. Yushchenko has been temporarily delayed, it took a step forward when a much-anticipated official announcement from the CEC finally came on January 10, after a marathon nine-hour meeting of the election commission.

"During the repeat election of December 26, Viktor Yushchenko has been elected president of Ukraine," CEC Chairman Yaroslav Davydovych announced late on Monday night, prompting an outburst of applause and cheers from Yushchenko representatives and supporters who raised an orange "Tak Yushchenko" flag.

According to the CEC's official tally, Mr. Yushchenko won 51.99 percent of the votes (15,115,712 votes), while his opponent, Mr. Yanukovych, took 44.20 percent (12,848,528 votes). A total of 29,068,971 people, out of an eligible 37,657,704, voted. Additionally, 682,239 people voted against both candidates.

"This is the happiest day of my life," said Petro Poroshenko, a member of Mr. Yushchenko's Our Ukraine political bloc and a deputy in the Verkhovna Rada.

"Ukraine has proved that it is a European country ... A new country and a new government were born today," he said.

Others, however, were not so happy with the outcome of the election. "We will never agree with the results of the third tour," Mr. Yanukovych said on January 11 at a press conference in Kyiv. "We cannot recognize the legitimacy of this election and the legitimacy of a president who was elected with violations to the Constitution and the rights and freedoms of millions of Ukrainians," Mr. Yanukovych said during his first public appearance since resigning as prime minister on New Year's Eve.

"The results declared by the Central Election Commission give us a convincing basis to file a complaint with the Supreme Court," he added.

Both candidates have seven days from the time of the CEC decision to appeal to the Supreme Court. The court then has five days to rule on an appeal.

In the aftermath of the CEC announcement, Mr. Yanukovych's supporters said they would launch a "massive" appeal that would call into question the legitimacy of the overall election and the CEC's ruling. Mr. Yanukovych's critics have charged him with purposefully delaying Mr. Yushchenko's inauguration.

Nestor Shufrych, Mr. Yanukovych's representative to the CEC, said the Yanukovych team had no intention of stalling and said that they intended to file their appeal with the Supreme Court "immediately." The team has twice promised to file but did not.

"We will appeal to the Supreme Court tomorrow for sure," Mr. Shufrych said on January 11, though no appeal came the following day.

"We are not interested in drawing out this process. We are all tired of this election. I believe we will be prepared to submit our formal appeal tomorrow," said Taras Chornovil, Mr. Yanukovych's campaign manager, on January 12. Late on January 13 a spokeswoman for the Supreme Court, Liana Shliaposhnikova, said Mr. Yanukovych still had not submitted an appeal.

However, members of Mr. Yushchenko's team maintain that Mr. Yanukovych intends to drag out the process as long as possible. "We forecast that the appeal will be submitted on the last day, the deadline for submitting such an appeal," said Mykola Katerinchyk, Mr. Yushchenko's legal representative, on January 12.

Ukrainian law gives Mr. Yanukovych until 11:30 p.m. on January 17 to file an appeal with the Supreme Court. Mr. Chornovil said it would consist of more than 600 volumes of documents and some 240 videotapes.

Once that appeal has been submitted, the Supreme Court can deliberate on the matter for up to five days. The court can also decide to dismiss the case outright. Following the Supreme Court's action, the CEC's official protocol on the election will be published - officially announcing the results to the public - and the Verkhovna Rada can then set a date for Mr. Yushchenko's inauguration.

Prior to filing an appeal, Mr. Yanukovych petitioned the Supreme Court, asking that publication of the official results be temporarily blocked. Supreme Court Judge Lilia Hryhorieva ruled in Mr. Yanukovych's favor on January 11.

Mr. Yushchenko's allies said the decision was fair and the right choice. "The court acted logically. The court did not differentiate between Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych. This step is necessary in order to establish the truth," Mr. Katerinchyk said.

Mr. Shufrych assured members of the press after the commission's announcement that his team would appeal to both the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights, employing the services of "a respected Swiss law firm" to help their legal battle.

Widely believed to be the tour de force of Mr. Yanukovych's bid to contest the election, the expected appeal would differ from other, innumerable appeals the Yanukovych team had filed earlier, either with the CEC or the Supreme Court.

The appeal to the country's top court, identical to one used by Mr. Yushchenko after the November 21 election, is expected to contest the December 26 vote by characterizing the election and the CEC's ruling on the matter as plagued by fraud. The appeal is also considered to be more meaningful because it calls into question the election only after the official results were released by the CEC.

Previous attempts to appeal by Mr. Yanukovych's team targeted only portions of the election and were filed before the results were certified by the CEC. Therefore, they were considered to carry less weight in trying to change the outcome of the election.

On January 10 the Supreme Court of Ukraine threw out four of Mr. Yanukovych's appeals. The appeals, numbered 1389, 1390, 1391 and 1393, focused on a procedural decision by the CEC on December 30, said court spokeswoman Shliaposhnikova.

With that Supreme Court decision backing them, CEC members voted unanimously the same day to release the official election results. All 15 members of the CEC signed the protocol, but two added additional remarks.

Yuriy Donchenko and Bronyslav Raykowsky both said the CEC failed to promptly inform regional election commissions about a Constitutional Court ruling made less than a day before the election.

The court earlier ruled unconstitutional a provision on home voting, saying that all people who were unable to reach polling stations because of disability or poor health must be allowed to vote at home.

Though all of the court decisions concerning the December 26 election have gone against Mr. Yanukovych, Mr. Chornovil said that Yanukovych supporters from Donetsk were expected to protest in Kyiv if the Supreme Court ruled in Mr. Yushchenko's favor. As of January 13, supporters of the former prime minister had erected 18 tents there to protest the CEC's decision.

"We will not turn to violent actions, but we are hearing about radical moves from Donetsk. We will not be able to control the people," Mr. Chornovil said.

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