UKRound-Up

BBC monitoring service posted a great round up of local media reaction to the Ukrainian elections. This is especially helpful to me since I can't read local media (except for the local expat rag and that only comes out on Fridays).

According to this story, there was quite a row today in Parliament as opposition deputies officially accused Yanukovich and his supports of fraud. Opposition member Julia Tymoshenko seemed to have been especially feisty, saying "Cheating didn't work. The Ukrainian people proved too wise." Pledging "a civil mobilisation, a composed battle against the bandits." And declaring "Yanukovich will never be president of Ukraine because Yushchenko became president in the first round!" She has been claiming since election night that Yuschenko actually received 50% of the vote in the first ballot. She has reason to be bitter though, her husband is currently in jail on (supposedly) bogus tax charges.

And lastly, OSCE and other international observers are expanding on their claims from yesterday that the first round was crooked. They are saying that elections "fell short of democratic standards" and are hoping that the second round is conducted more fairly. Interestingly, the above article is claiming that the Socialist candidate who placed third will be bringing his 6% of the vote to Yushenko but no one knows what the Communists are going to do.

UPDATE: The U.S. is apparently officially displeased as well. The following is from yesterdays Department of State Press Briefing:

"...we share the OSCE's assessment that this election "constitutes a step backward" from Ukraine's 2002 elections.

In particular, we would note that the campaign was marked by serious violations, and that there were significant irregularities on election day, although high participation levels of the electorate and civil society were encouraging.

Looking ahead, we see the second round of the election on November 21st as an opportunity for Ukraine to affirm its commitments to democratic principles, and we urge the Ukrainian authorities to allow the people of Ukraine to choose freely and to adhere -- and for the government to adhere scrupulously to international accepted standards for tabulating and registering results."

"... The specific irregularities that we saw on election day were flawed voter lists and arbitrary expulsion of electoral commissioners in violation of Ukrainian law less than 24 hours before the vote."