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5 Oct, 2007 17:23

Ukraine’s election: final results are out

Ukraine's Central Electoral Committee has finished counting votes from last weekend's early parliamentary election. Preliminary results had already indicated the frontrunners, but the intrigue now lies in the coalitions that will have to be formed.

According to the Committee, there are five parties which gained seats in the Rada.

The frontrunner with 34.4% is the Party of Regions, headed by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich. The second is Yulia Timoshenko’s Bloc with 30.7%. The pro-Presidential Our Ukraine – People's Self Defence Bloc gained 14.2%.

The poll was called after President Viktor Yushchenko dismissed parliament in March.

And although the Communist party and the Litvin Bloc got fewer votes, their decision in the current coalition talks may be of key importance.

President Yushchenko seems to have made a U-turn: before the election, he favoured the Orange Coalition but when the results came out, he blessed none of the parties for leadership. Slightly confused, all five factions that gained seats entered the running for power. The Party of Regions took first place in this election but without the votes of other competitors, their hands are tied.

“We’d like to see a grand coalition including all four major forces, but the Ukrainian reality shows that even the process of dialogue between all sides will be difficult,” Raisa Bogatyreva, Party of Regions representative, explained.

The President’s Our Ukraine party is hoping for a combined effort with Yulia Timoshenko. Together, they may have a slight majority over the Prime Minister’s team.

The Orange Coalition, however, has its power base in Western Ukraine. People in the East traditionally support the Party of Regions.
 
“The broad coalition is not natural for Ukraine. It will only continue the dirty games of the last election race. But I am sure we can establish a peaceful relationship with the Party of Regions that are likely to be in the opposition,” Yury Lutsenko from Our Ukraine- Self Defence Block said.
 
The Communist Party has made it to the parliament, too. They are ready to talk business with the Party of Regions to form a united anti-Orange group. Their leader, however, says it won’t solve all the problems.

“The President doesn’t want a stable parliament. He wants to carry through a constitutional reform in order to ruin the parliamentary order in the country and establish the direct rule,” Pyotr Simonenko, Communist Party leader, commented.
 
And the biggest surprise of this election is the head of the Labour Party, Vladimir Litvin, who staged an impressive comeback after almost four years out of power. But it's not clear yet where his loyalties are.

If the Orange Coalition is formed, it will have a narrow parliamentary majority of just two or three votes. So it is vital for them to woo dark horse candidate, Vladimir Litvin. Analysts say that his 20 seats may square the circle of this election.

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