Yulia Tymoshenko Challenges Democracy in Ukraine

BY: Howard Williams Published: February 19, 2010

WASHINGTON (Politically Illustrated) – Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is seeking to challenge Viktor Yanukovych's victory through legal means after losing re-election by 3 percent.

“We are sure that there were systemic, fundamental and general falsifications of the elections in the second round,” said Ms. Tymoshenko who filed a complaint in court.

Mr. Yanukovych, after a being defeated by the Orange Revolution in 2004 by pro-Western powers, marked a remarkable comeback winning by 3.5 percent or a little under 890,000 votes.

During the election, Mr. Yanukovych promised to provide Russia with a stake in maintaining Ukraine’s natural gas pipelines and to offer further military cooperation on the Black Sea naval base.

“It [the election] is a defeat for Ukraine’s European course,” said outgoing President Viktor Yushenko. “The victory of Yanukovych is a Kremlin project. It is a policy of deep dependence on Russia.”

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