Ukraine's Orange Revolution camp appears to have edge
KIEV - Parties favoring a pro-Western foreign policy and closer ties with the European Union appeared headed for a narrow margin of victory in parliamentary elections, according to exit polls.
Yesterday's balloting pitted the same two sides that faced off in Ukraine's 2004 Orange Revolution, when weeks of street protests forced a repetition of presidential elections.
Yulia Tymoshenko, 46, the most fiery leader of those protests, seemed early today to be favored to become prime minister.
With about 8 percent of ballots counted, parties backing Tymoshenko had 53 percent of the vote compared with 31 percent for parties backing current Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, and 5 percent for centrist Volodymyr Lytvyn bloc.
Four exit polls, however, suggested a narrower margin between the rivals, leaving the Lytvyn party as a potential king-maker.
Results closer to the predictions of exit polls could allow Yanukovich, whose victory was overturned in 2004, to remain prime minister if he can woo the centrist party to his side.
Tymoshenko, speaking late yesterday after release of the exit polls, claimed victory and predicted the Orange camp would agree on the makeup of a new government within days. She also expressed concern that her opponents might attempt to falsify results during the ballot count.
"I believe that the victory of the democratic forces is final," she declared. "I would like to warn that no falsifications will be able to change the final results. . . . The democratic forces will justify the trust and confidence shown by Ukrainian citizens."
During the 2004 protests, Tymoshenko was the key ally of Viktor Yushchenko, the pro-Western candidate who nearly died of dioxin poisoning in a plot that some have suggested had ties to Moscow. He went on to win the presidency after the Orange Revolution triggered a repeat election.
Tymoshenko served for seven months as prime minister, but Yushchenko dismissed her after they had a falling out. They patched up their alliance again earlier this year.
Yushchenko forced yesterday's early election after accusing Yanukovich of trying to usurp power by bribing opposition lawmakers to join the prime minister's coalition.
All sides built their campaigns primarily on promises of a better life.
But the geopolitical aspect so visible in 2004, when Yanukovich was seen as the Moscow-backed candidate, was still evident.
The Orange bloc, which bases its power mainly in the western and central parts of the country, has stressed Ukrainian patriotism and development of close ties with the West.
Tymoshenko is a powerful speaker who inspires fervent emotions from her Orange block supporters.
"Yulia is good. She's a good economist. She knows her figures. And she's charming," said Anatoliy Yurovsky, 81, a retired metals industry technician who said he supported her. "She knows how to sweep an audience. Her problem is she tries to do things too quickly."
Yanukovich, whose power base is in the more heavily Russian-influenced south and east, advocated a referendum to make Russian an official language, along with Ukrainian. 