International election observers praise Ukrainian presidential vote as transparent and honest

International vote monitors hail Ukraine election

KIEV, Ukraine — International monitors on Monday hailed Ukraine’s presidential election as “professional, transparent and honest,” increasing pressure on Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to concede to opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych.

Yanukovych held a 2.7 percentage point lead with all but 1.7 percent of the ballots cast Sunday counted.

But Tymoshenko, who has alleged fraud and manipulation of the vote, has signaled she will challenge the outcome in the courts. She canceled two news conferences Monday, apparently weighing her options.

A Yanukovych victory would close a chapter in the country’s political history by ousting the pro-Western leadership of the past five years, which foundered due to internal divisions, fierce opposition from Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine and the collapse of the economy.

As president, Yanukovych would try to balance relations with Moscow against Europe, tilting to Moscow where his Orange Revolution predecessors tilted West. But his narrow mandate, Ukraine’s deeply divided society and moribund economy will limit his ability to implement desperately needed political reforms.

The international monitors issued a joint statement saying “the professional, transparent and honest voting and counting should serve as a solid foundation for a peaceful transition of power.”

Joao Soares — head of the observation mission from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly — said the vote was an impressive display of a democratic election and a victory for the people of Ukraine. In comments apparently directed at Tymoshenko, he urged Ukraine’s politicians to heed the official vote tally.

“It is now time for the country’s political leaders to listen to the people’s verdict and make sure that the transition of power is peaceful and constructive,” Soares said.

Yanukovych’s apparent victory marks a dramatic comeback. He was initially declared the winner of the 2004 presidential contest. But evidence of widespread voting fraud sent hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians into the streets, demanding the results be overturned, in what came to be known as the Orange Revolution.

The Supreme Court later threw out the results, and Yanukovych lost the rematch to Viktor Yushchenko.

In Sunday’s election, vote monitors said the high turnout and the efficient performance of election officials dispelled fears of large-scale fraud.

The election commission projected the turnout among Ukraine’s 37 million voters at just under 70 percent, 3.2 percentage points higher than the first-round vote on Jan. 17, in which 18 candidates competed. Yanukovych won that round with a 10 percentage point lead.

“The Ukrainian people, who have shown their commitment to a democratic electoral process, now deserve a peaceful transition of power,” said Assen Agov, head of the delegation of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

Yanukovych has claimed victory and his team kicked off festivities by calling on the prime minister to admit defeat.

“She should remember her own democratic slogans and recognize the results of the elections,” said Anna German, deputy chairwoman of Yanukovych’s Party of Regions.

Around 5,000 Yanukovych supporters assembled Monday morning near a stage in Kiev adorned with the slogan “Ukrainians for a Fair Election,” claiming to defend the results of the election.

Supporters danced in heavy winter coats in front of the Central Election Commission as a series of daylong concerts got under way, despite frigid temperatures and flurries of snow. Hundreds waved Yanukovych’s signature blue campaign pennants and some draped flags over their shoulders, readily admitting they were there to forestall attempts by the Tymoshenko camp to organize large-scale protests.

But Tymoshenko has not called her supporters out onto the streets. Even the lone tent that had stood outside the Central Election Commission on Friday was gone.

Tymoshenko and outgoing President Yushchenko fell out after leading the Orange Revolution protests in 2004, and the bad blood between them has caused political gridlock in recent years and deepened Ukraine’s economic malaise. Most voters are now keen to see a united leadership take power.

“It finally seems like these five years of pointless bickering are coming to an end,” said Vladislav Kuprinchuk, 63, a retired veteran who wore a plastic Yanukovych poncho at Monday’s rally. “I came out here to make sure Yulia doesn’t steal our victory.”