Ukraine candidate refuses to concede defeat

KIEV, Monday

Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yanukovich today pressed rival Yulia Tymoshenko to concede defeat after his slender victory in a presidential election that could tilt the ex-Soviet state back towards Moscow.

With just over 97 per cent of votes counted, official election figures gave Yanukovich a margin of 2.41 percentage points over Prime Minister Tymoshenko.

But a Central Election Commission official told Reuters that Yanukovich remained the winner of Sunday’s vote.

With a complete picture still to come in from voting in his strongholds in the south and east, the gap with Ms Tymoshenko was expected to increase rather than shrink further, Commission member Mykhailo Okhendovskiy said.

Analysts said the slender gap might encourage Tymoshenko, who earlier warned Yanukovich against celebrating victory prematurely, to press for advantage or contest the result.

Meanwhile, late today, international monitors urged Ms Tymoshenko to Mr Yanukovich in Sunday’s presidential run-off vote and shake hands with him for the sake of stability.

“Yesterday’s vote was an impressive display of democratic elections. For everyone in Ukraine, this election was a victory,” the observers, headed by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said in a statement.

“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.”

The OSCE verdict was almost tantamount to a call by the world community for Tymoshenko to accept the fight was over.

Adding extra weight to this appeal, Assen Agov, head of the Nato Parliamentary Assembly’s delegation, told a news briefing where the report was made public: “Normally for the good of the nation the one who loses shakes hands with the one who wins.” (Reuters)