Yushchenko crosses final hurdle to presidency

KIEV - Ukraine's Supreme Court on Thursday upheld Western-leaning Viktor Yushchenko's victory in last month's presidential election re-run, clearing the way for his inauguration.

Court Chairman Anatoly Yarema, issuing the ruling well after midnight following days of deliberation, said the judges had rejected an appeal filed by Viktor Yanukovich, Yushchenko's rival in the December 26 poll.

"The judicial chamber has decided to ... reject the appeal by Viktor Fedorovich Yanukovich," Yarema said. "This decision is final and not subject to appeal."

Yushchenko, who says he wants to move Ukraine closer to Europe while maintaining traditional links with Russia, defeated Yanukovich in the ballot by a margin of eight per cent.

The re-run was called by the Supreme Court after it ruled the original poll in November, in which former Prime Minister Yanukovich was declared the winner, was subject to mass fraud.

Yushchenko had called vast crowds clad in his orange campaign colors onto Kiev's streets to denounce cheating in the earlier ballot.

He is now expected to be inaugurated in the next few days, with parliament required by law to name the date.

The court had signaled earlier it was moving toward such a ruling by lifting a ban on publication of the election results -- the first step toward inauguration. The results appeared in Thursday's editions of two official dailies.

"By rejecting Yanukovich's appeal, the Supreme Court has provided the legal basis for the Central Election Commission's decision and confirms that Yushchenko won the presidential election," said Oleksiy Reznikov, one of Yushchenko's representatives in court.

- REUTERS