Ukrainian court to hear opposition's case

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - Ukraine's Supreme Court gave the political opposition some breathing room Thursday, ruling that the results of a presidential election are not official until it hears an appeal from a Western-leaning candidate who says it was stolen from him.

But there were no indications that opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko's call for a national strike was taking hold, and it was unclear whether the high court even has the right to annul the vote count that gave victory to the Kremlin-backed candidate, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.

The opposition increased the stakes further Thursday, calling for a nationwide series of roadblocks.

The election pitting Yushchenko against Yanukovych has led to an increasingly tense tug-of-war between the West and Moscow, which considers Ukraine part of its sphere of influence and a buffer between Russia and NATO's eastern flank.

At a summit in The Hague, Netherlands, Russian President Vladimir Putin and European Union leaders staked out starkly opposing views of Ukraine's election dispute but agreed the crisis must be resolved peacefully.

Although Yanukovych had widespread official backing, including that of outgoing President Leonid Kuchma, the Supreme Court is respected as an unbiased body. The court's decision boosted Yushchenko's supporters, who have flooded the streets of Kiev since the Sunday run-off.

"Yeah, we are definitely going to win," said Valentyn Kulchytsky, 23, one of about 100,000 demonstrators standing in freezing weather.

Yushchenko praised the decision, but told the crowd, "This is only the beginning."

Yanukovych late Thursday said "I don't see any possibility for resolving this conflict by the path of ultimatums ... we should sit at the negotiating table," news agencies reported.

A day earlier, Yanukovych had said that negotiations with the opposition would begin Thursday, but Yushchenko's camp has brushed off the idea.

The court decision also foretells a continuation of tension for at least several days. The appeal will be considered on Monday, court spokeswoman Liana Shlyaposhnikova said.

The protesters, swelling to as many as 200,000 at times, have braved freezing temperatures in Kiev's Independence Square since Sunday's run-off, saying the ballot was rigged to allow Yanukovych to win.

Apparently responding to the call for a nationwide road blockade, Yushchenko supporters put up a barricade of logs and burning tires Thursday along a main western road leading from the city of Lviv to the Polish border.

"In Ukraine, there will not be a single major highway that will not be closed," key Yushchenko ally Yulia Tymoshenko told the Kiev crowd.

An approximately 100-strong unit of men in police uniform went over to the protesters' side on Thursday night, and the Unian news agency described them as cadets. As one of them read a statement of support, the crowd shouted "Good guys!"

The demonstrators were galvanized Thursday by a visit from Lech Walesa, the founder of the Polish Solidarity movement, who said he was "amazed" at their enthusiasm and predicted their protest would succeed.

Walesa, who arrived in Kiev to try to help pull this deeply divided nation of 48 million back from the brink of conflict, said he met earlier with Yanukovych, "not as a presidential candidate but as prime minister."

"I am worried that all the people I talked with stressed that there is a possibility of provocations and if you have a provocation then force must be used," Walesa said later, but added nonetheless that "I am leaving with some hope."

Western observers have denounced the vote as fraudulent, citing voter intimidation, multiple voting and other irregularities. The United States and the European Union said they couldn't accept the results as legitimate and warned the Ukrainian government of "consequences" in relations with the West.

Ukraine's Black Sea port of Sevastopol is home to the Russian navy's southern fleet, and the country is seen as a buffer between Russia and eastward-expanding NATO. In addition, pipelines carrying Russian gas and oil - Russia's major export earners - cross Ukraine.

As for Moscow's own international prestige, any prospect of even partially resurrecting the Soviet Union, such as through free-trade zones, depends on Ukraine's allegiance to Russia.

If one of Europe's largest countries turns violent, the waves of unrest will be felt far from Kiev, and waves of Ukrainian migrants could pour into neighboring European Union countries. Although Ukraine has given up its nuclear missiles, there are still fears it could play a role in proliferating weapons of mass destruction.

The outcome could have a significant impact on other former Soviet republics such as Belarus, where authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has been granted the right to run for office indefinitely. An opposition victory would reinforce the message of last autumn's Rose Revolution in Georgia - that protests can bring down post-Soviet governments.

The Western-leaning reformist Yushchenko and his allies had called for an "all-Ukrainian political strike" starting Thursday.

The threat to shut down factories, schools and transportation risked provoking a crackdown by Kuchma, who accused the opposition of trying to carry out "a coup d'etat."

However, there were no indications that a national strike was taking hold, although workers from several factories in Yushchenko's stronghold region of Lviv were reportedly leaving their jobs to come to Kiev. In the capital, business and factories appeared to be working as usual, although one hotel allowed its workers to take leave to join the protests.

The private One Plus One TV channel went on the air for the first time since Tuesday, promising there would be no censorship there from now on.

"We acknowledge our responsibility for biased information that the channel spread under pressure and according to directions from various political forces," the channel's journalists said.

Mykola Tomenko, a lawmaker and Yushchenko ally, said "more and more people" were gathering on the streets of the nation's cities. The opposition said some workers had gone on strike, but there was no way of independently verifying the claims.

A strike could further divide the country: Yanukovych drew his support from the pro-Russian, heavily industrialized eastern half of Ukraine, while Yushchenko's strength was in the west, a traditional center of nationalism.

Yanukovych is seen as likely to bring Ukraine closer to its eastern neighbor, perhaps giving short shrift to the NATO and EU countries that border Ukraine's west. Yanukovych has also proposed making Russian an official language, a popular idea in Ukraine's eastern regions where many Russian-speaking residents struggle with Ukrainian.

Yushchenko campaigned on promises of economic development, including a grandiose promise to create 5 million new jobs in the country; battling the corruption that keeps wealth concentrated in a few hands despite the country's recent economic upswing; and reducing and simplifying taxes.

Envoys Visit Ukraine to Try to Solve Vote Crisis

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&ncid=721&e=4&u=/nm/20041126/wl_nm/ukraine_dc

By Ron Popeski

KIEV (Reuters) - Three envoys fly to Ukraine on Friday to try to resolve the crisis triggered by opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko's campaign to overturn presidential election results he says are fraudulent.

European Union (news - web sites) foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski were to meet the principal figures in the standoff.

Jan Kubis, secretary-general of the Organization for Security and Cooperation (news - web sites) in Europe, was also expected.

The OSCE (news - web sites) had the largest group of monitors at both rounds of voting -- more than 600. Both times, the monitors found the election fell far short of acceptable international standards.

Yushchenko's camp had the wind in its sails on Thursday after the Supreme Court put off the inauguration of the winner of this week's run-off according to the official count, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich.

"This is only the beginning," Yushchenko told a crowd surging into Kiev's Independence Square for the fourth straight day. "It is proof that it is society that always wins. It is small compensation for the suffering that we have endured."

He and his allies were to devise a strategy to push ahead with a national strike, including a blockade of big roads.

And his backers in Kiev were in a buoyant mood overnight, with thousands of all ages ignoring wintry weather and strolling up and down Khreshchatyk, the capital's main street.

Residents brought blankets, hats and gloves to activists remaining in the tree-lined street round-the-clock in hundreds of tents pitched on the pavement.

Yushchenko has vowed to remain in the square with his supporters until the election result is overturned. Demonstrators responded to appeals to surround the government building and parliament, both a short walk up the road.

ENVOYS

Solana, a spokeswoman said on Thursday, aimed to discuss "a negotiated diplomatic solution" with Yushchenko, Yanukovich and outgoing President Leonid Kuchma, stepping down after a 10-year term marked by scandal.

Kwasniewski was, at the least, to have talks with Kuchma. The Polish president has proposed a three-point plan, which includes verifying election results, potentially annulling those tainted by irregularities and the renunciation of violence by all sides. The schedule of the OSCE's Kubis was not known.

Western countries have reacted bluntly to official results proclaiming Yanukovich president. The EU and the United States said the election fell far short of international standards and called for a review of its conduct and outcome.

Relations with the EU formed an important campaign issue. Yushchenko sees gradual integration with Europe as a critical post-Soviet principle. Yanukovich says Ukraine can be prosperous only if it develops ties with other ex-Soviet states.

Poland is a big advocate of Ukrainian integration with Europe after considerable post-communist efforts by both sides to eliminate centuries of enmity between the neighbors.

Also mentioned as a possible mediator is President Valdas Adamkus of Lithuania.

Thursday's Supreme Court ruling barred publication of results in the official gazette, effectively stopping Yanukovich becoming head of state for now. It also agreed to hear next Monday Yushchenko's complaint alleging cheating in the poll.

The prime minister looked harried in a brief appearance on state television, but repeated that the election had been fair. He said Western countries had no right to condone opposition calls for further demonstrations to reverse the result.

"I believe that resolving issues in the street, appeals to resolve matters through pressure or revolution are a deviation from the very democratic norms advocated by countries making declarations at the moment," he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites), who met the Dutch EU presidency in The Hague (news - web sites), urged a solution to the crisis through the courts, not the streets.

Canadian Press..

Deputy prime minister lauds decision of Ukrainian court in disputed election

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1845&ncid=721&e=11&u=/cpress/20041126/ca_pr_on_na/ukraine_cda

OTTAWA (CP) - Deputy prime minister Anne McLellan has applauded the intervention of Ukraine's supreme court in that country's disputed presidential election.

"We are pleased to see that this matter is before the Ukrainian court and that the court will take it up," she said Thursday following a cabinet meeting. "We want to await the outcome of that judicial proceeding." McLellan called it an important step toward ensuring the election results reflect the democratic will of the Ukrainian people.

Ukraine's supreme court has decided it will not make official the results of the country's presidential vote until it has heard an appeal by the opposition candidate, who claims the vote was rigged.

Allegations of fraud in the elections could dramatically impact Canada's relations with Ukraine, McLellan said.

"We have expressed our profound concern in relation to what has happened in Ukraine. We do not accept those election results."

Later Thursday, hundreds of people protested the election results on Parliament Hill.

The demonstrators, most wearing or carrying orange signs, urged Canada to help return democracy to Ukraine.

Politicians of all stripes spoke to the crowd, vowing to back a demand by the people of Ukraine for an investigation into alleged election fraud.

Yuri Pelyushonok, a Canadian from Belarus, was in tears as he spoke about people in Ukraine who have been praying that the election crisis doesn't turn violent.

"A lot of elderly people, they stayed through the night in Ukrainian churches, praying," he said, holding a sign with his five-year-old daughter, Lily.

About 200 people turned out Wednesday night for a candelight vigil in Edmonton's Churchill Square, where they prayed, chanted and waved flags and signs.

"We have taken a country that has worked so hard for its democratic rights and we have ruptured it in less than a day, in less than one election," said protest organizer Martha Prystasz.

"I firmly believe the people that have gathered here and the people that have kept on supporting Ukraine and the Ukrainian people in their rights are in disbelief that other countries aren't participating and aren't forcing the Ukrainian government to do something and to act."

Another protest is planned for Saturday in front of the Russian embassy in Ottawa.

The opposition in Ukraine claims the election results are phoney and cheated opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko of victory.

The United States has also said it does not recognize the victory of Kremlin-backed Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.

In Kyiv, tens of thousands of supporters of opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko have been occupying the downtown area since Sunday's run-off.

The election commission said Yanukovych got 49.46 per cent of Sunday's vote, against Yushchenko's 46.61 per cent.

Western election observers, including former Canadian cabinet minister David Collenette, said the vote was seriously flawed and did not meet democratic standards.

Exit polls indicated a victory for Yushchenko, a pro-western reformer.

Canada was the first country to officially recognize Ukraine after it split from the former Soviet Union in 1991.

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