Home>News Center>World
         
 

Ukraine opposition leader opens campaign
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-12-06 09:14

Ukraine opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko kicked off campaigning for the Dec. 26 presidential election rerun Sunday with a call for quick passage of anti-fraud legislation. Supporters signed up by the thousands to monitor balloting and ensure a fair vote.


Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko waves to supporters during a mass rally at the Independence Square in downtown Kiev, Sunday, Dec. 5 2004. Yushchenko urged tens of thousands of supporters gathered at Kiev's main Independence Square to maintain their blockade of official buildings to ensure parliament passes the electoral changes. [AP Photo]

"We are witnessing a struggle between forces of good and forces of evil," Yushchenko told throngs of chanting supporters gathered at Kiev's main square and waving his campaign's orange flags.

"The entire world is applauding our victory. The entire world is proud of Ukraine."

While thousands of pro-Yushchenko demonstrators marked two weeks of a round-the-clock vigil in downtown Kiev, supporters of his rival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, were largely out of sight in eastern regions near Russia — Yanukovych's stronghold.

The Moscow-backed Yanukovych has not been seen in public since Friday's Supreme Court ruling canceling his Nov. 21 runoff victory over Yushchenko because of fraud. On Sunday, campaign representatives did not answer repeated phone calls.

The Western-leaning Yushchenko said little about his campaign proposals, but he repeated accusations that outgoing President Leonid Kuchma had blocked key electoral changes through his loyalists in this former Soviet republic's parliament.

He urged demonstrators to maintain their blockade of official buildings.

"We insist that the parliament comes back from recess and considers the issues that must ensure a fair, transparent and democratic vote on Dec. 26," Yushchenko said.

The election has led to a tug-of-war between Moscow and the West, which bristled at Russian President Vladimir Putin's heavy-handed support for Yanukovych. Moscow, which considers this nation of 48 million people part of its sphere of influence and a buffer between it and NATO's eastern flank, fears Ukraine will tilt further to the West under Yushchenko.

On Saturday, the parliament, Verkhovna Rada, adjourned for 10 days after pro-government factions blocked opposition-demanded changes.


A supporter of opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko holds a Ukrainian flag during a rally at Independence Square in Kiev, Sunday, Dec. 5 2004, with Yushchenko's portrait painted on a wall. Yushchenko on Sunday kicked off campaigning for the Dec. 26 presidential rerun with a call for quick passage of anti-fraud legislation as supporters began signing up en masse to monitor balloting and ensure a fair vote. [AP Photo]]

Yushchenko said the changes must ban voting by absentee ballot and at home, which he said was used by Yanukovych supporters to rig the Nov. 21 runoff. The changes also must ensure opposition supporters are represented on election commissions across the nation, he told the rally.

Yushchenko's fiery ally, Yulia Tymoshenko, said the public protests that have swept Ukraine have had an impact on the government, leaving less room for official fraud.

"Something has changed, thanks to the people," she said.

Thousands of protesters clad in Yushchenko's campaign color of orange — many grimy after living for two weeks in the sprawling tent camp on a Kiev street — have vowed to remain until new election laws are passed.

"We can stay here until the end," said Yaroslav Bileko, 19, crawling out of his tent and slipping into an ankle-length black wool coat. "Even though we are tired physically and emotionally, the thought of democracy warms our souls."

Demonstrators filled out questionnaires Sunday to sign up for jobs as campaigners, monitors or election commission members. Thousands volunteered to work as monitors and activists in the Yanukovych stronghold region of Donetsk, said Yushchenko campaigner Mykola Moskovsky.

Western observers have documented evidence of vote-rigging in the east in Yanukovych's favor, including multiple voting, falsification of voter lists and abuse of absentee ballots. Yanukovych's camp claims it has evidence of voting irregularities in Kiev and some western regions.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said it will deploy a full-fledged observer mission for this month's rerun. More than 1,000 people plan to arrive from Canada, home to many people of Ukrainian origin, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress said.

In parliament, a loose coalition of communists, socialists and pro-government lawmakers said they would back electoral changes only in exchange for the opposition's vote on a constitutional reform transferring some presidential powers to parliament.

Yushchenko accused government foes of trying to trim presidential powers because they feared he would win the rerun.

Kuchma, in turn, blamed the opposition for reneging on a European-brokered compromise calling for parliament to vote for the electoral and constitutional changes all at once. Kuchma, who supported Yanukovych, has called for a new round of talks involving European sponsors, but they appeared increasingly unlikely.

Tymoshenko warned that Yushchenko would face a tough task of living up to expectations after the excitement of round-the-clock vigils.

"It's a terrible responsibility, and I believe Yushchenko feels it — not to let die that orange flame which has burnt so brightly here," she said.



 
  Today's Top News     Top World News
 

Key economic policies mapped out for 2005

 

   
 

Hu shares views with Chirac over phone

 

   
 

SARS vaccine found safe in test

 

   
 

Probe into coal mine blast begins in earnest

 

   
 

Weekend attacks kill at least 70 in Iraq

 

   
 

25 dead, 19 missing at Guizhou landslides

 

   
  Weekend attacks kill at least 70 in Iraq
   
  Hamas deputy vows continuing resistance
   
  Ukraine opposition leader opens campaign
   
  Report: Tillman's final minutes a horror
   
  Rumsfeld to stay as US defense secretary
   
  Musharraf says bin Laden trail gone cold
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Related Stories  
   
Ukraine's High Court sets Dec. 26 rerun
   
Ukraine high court calls for new election
   
New Ukraine election looks likely way out of crisis
   
New Ukraine poll likely way out of crisis
   
Ukraine parliament brings down government
   
Ukraine's parliament opens without quorum
   
Ukraine opposition breaks off talks
  News Talk  
  Are the Republicans exploiting the memory of 9/11?  
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 欧美综合社区国产| 992tv成人影院| 小sao货水好多真紧h视频| 久久国产精品老人性| 欧美在线看片a免费观看| 亚洲精品美女久久久久99| 精品久久中文字幕| 囯产精品一品二区三区| 香蕉久久综合精品首页| 国产永久免费观看的黄网站 | 可以看女生隐私的网站| 青青青青久久国产片免费精品| 国产精品久久福利网站| 91免费福利视频| 在线观看一区二区精品视频| v一区无码内射国产| 师尊要被cao坏了by谦野| 中文字幕在线看| 无码人妻精品一区二区三18禁 | 美日韩在线观看| 国产三级全黄在线观看| 韩国无遮挡吃奶床戏| 国产成人yy免费视频| 欧美成人性动漫在线观看| 国产精品宾馆在线| 2022最新国产在线| 国产精品高清一区二区三区不卡| 99国产精品免费视频观看| 天海翼被施爆两个小时| x8x8在线观看| 女人自慰AA大片| 亚洲美女黄视频| 粗大挺进尤物人妻中文字幕| 卡一卡2卡3卡精品网站| 美女羞羞动画网站视频| 四虎影视精品永久免费网站| 色屁屁www影院免费观看视频 | 日韩午夜在线视频不卡片| 久久综合色视频| 日韩爽爽视频爽爽| 天堂资源在线www中文|