Supreme Court annuls Ukrainian vote

Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko greets supporters during a rally in central Kiev. Picture / Reuters

KIEV - Ukraine's top judges have declared the ex-Soviet state's presidential election invalid and called for a new vote on December 26, meeting the demands of candidate Viktor Yushchenko and tens of thousands of protesters.

A triumphant Yushchenko went immediately to meet his supporters in the centre of the capital Kiev, telling them they had brought about "an orange revolution".

Young and old protesters clad in the opposition's orange colours set off fireworks and cheered each Supreme Court judge by name in Kiev's Independence Square amid scenes of jubilation.

The crisis following the election battle between Western-oriented Yushchenko and Moscow-backed Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich has plunged Ukraine into turmoil and kindled distrust between Russia and the West.

The judges agreed with Yushchenko's allegations that the November 21 run-off vote had been subject to systematic fraud by the authorities.

"Ukraine is henceforth a true democratic state," Yushchenko told the crowd, one of his young daughters hugging his leg. Calling on outgoing President Leonid Kuchma and Yanukovich to quit straight away, he said: "Find the courage and go! Don't torture your people."

The ruling is a slap in the face for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who only on Thursday met Kuchma and supported him in opposing a repeat of the run-off. Putin had campaigned for Yanukovich.

The crisis has strained ties between Russia, concerned about losing influence in what it regards as its backyard, and the West, keen to see a stable democracy on the edge of an expanded European Union.

"This is the birth of Ukrainian democracy and a victory for the rule of law," said Adrian Karatnycky, senior scholar at U.S.-funded democracy advocates Freedom House.

"This is the end of Russian aspirations for hegemony."

GEORGIA PART TWO

Ukraine is the second ex-Soviet state in a year to back a Western-leaning leader after mass unrest over vote-rigging. Similar scenes of protest in Tbilisi a year ago led to the ouster of veteran leader Eduard Shevardnadze.

"It is a historic day today not only for Ukraine but for the whole region and for Georgia," Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said in Tbilisi. He wore an orange tie, hailing a new "process of democratisation".

Yushchenko, whose reference to an "orange revolution" was a play on Georgia's "rose revolution", asked protesters to stay in the streets.

The United States welcomed the Supreme Court decision, saying it was important the new vote be free and fair.

"This is something we've been waiting for a lot time. That's why we've been here for such a long time despite cold and snow," said Andrei Kuts, a history graduate in Independence Square.

The protesters have thronged in the heart of Kiev for 12 days. On Friday they chanted "Kuchma out! Kuchma out!"

Kuchma's 10 years in office were tainted by scandal and he has no automatic immunity from prosecution once he steps down.

In contrast to the jubilation in Kiev and the Ukrainian-speaking West, the court judgement was met with dismay in the Russian-speaking eastern city of Donetsk, where around 4,000 Yanukovich supporters gathered.

"It is awful how those people in Kiev treat us, people say we were paid to vote for Yanukovich," said Sergei Masterzheka, 26. "We voted and voted honestly because Yanukovich is one of us, he is from near here. We will vote again and we will show them how we support him."

Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski, a mediator in the crisis, said he expected the new vote to be fair and that Yanukovich would run.

If Yanukovich pulled out at the last minute, Yushchenko would have to secure more than 50 per cent of the vote to win the election, Yanukovich aide Stepan Havrysh was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.

The crisis sparked a run on banks and has seen the parliament adopt a more aggressive role, passing motions to sack Yanukovich and declare the election fraudulent.

Earlier today, it voted to demand that Ukraine's 1,500 troops in Iraq pull out. Troop withdrawal was a campaign pledge by both candidates but the deployment was personally overseen by Kuchma.

- REUTERS