Ukraine sees fresh rallies after parliament vote

Parliament Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn addresses deputies during an extraordinary session of parliament in Kiev. Picture / Reuters

KIEV - Opposition supporters rallied anew on the streets of the Ukrainian capital on Sunday, boosted by a parliamentary vote declaring invalid a disputed presidential poll handing victory to Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich.

Eastern regions, where Moscow-backed Yanukovich has his power base, geared up for a rival day of protest on his behalf. Yanukovich flew to meet regional bosses and supporters north of the big mining centre of Donetsk.

Saturday's vote in parliament, which noted widespread fraud in the Nov. 21 run-off election, had no legal force as parliament claims no jurisdiction over the validity of elections.

But it provided a further boost for liberal opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko in his bid to overturn Yanukovich's victory.

The declaration was issued ahead of a Supreme Court hearing on Monday to consider Yushchenko's complaints of poll irregularities. The court has so far forbidden publication of the count handing victory to Yanukovich, thus blocking his inauguration.

No date for any new election was suggested in parliament. Yushchenko, 50, has already said he stands for a new vote on Dec. 12, but Yanukovich, 54 and strongly backed by Russia, has yet to say whether he is ready for a re-run.

Western countries have called for a review of the results, with the European Union advocating a new election.

The crisis has dramatised a longstanding divide between Ukraine's nationalist west, supporting Yushchenko, and the industrial Russian-speaking east solidly behind the premier.

It also has raised tensions between the West and Russia since Yushchenko calls for gradual integration with the West while Yanukovich sees closer ties with Russia as the key to prosperity.

A party mood prevailed in Kiev's Independence Square and its slush-filled main boulevard, Khreshchatyk, on Sunday. Several thousand Yushchenko supporters milled around, brandishing flags and banners and sporting their trademark orange gear.

An Orthodox priest read prayers in an open-air service on the steps of the mayor's office while 100 meters (yards) away a rock group belted out a number over a loudspeaker system. Brigades of women handed out hot drinks and snacks to those who had slept overnight in a tent encampment.

"People will not leave the street until a new commission names a new date for elections," said deputy Ivan Zayets, a Yushchenko ally, on Saturday. "These decisions (of parliament) do not solve the problem. They only point in the correct direction for an ultimate resolution."

There was a sharply contrasting picture in the Russian-speaking east where there has been talk of declarations of autonomy if the election of Yanukovich is overturned.

EAST BACKS YANUKOVICH

Reuters correspondent Oliver Bullough said several thousand supporters were already out on the streets of Severodonetsk, near the border with Russia, ready to welcome Yanukovich.

Many wore the traditional uniforms of Cossacks, representing the conservative values of old Russia.

In contrast to the orange-led street scenes in Kiev, crowds there waved blue flags and banners and chanted "Ya-nu-ko-vich!"

Valery Krasnachuk, a coal miner for 30 years, said: "We are not enemies of those people in Kiev. We are for unity. But we are against those who are trying to separate us like Yushchenko and his people.

"This is a mining and metal-producing region. We work in hard conditions and we need a man who knows how to work hard and does not change his mind. That man is Yanukovich."

Parliament also expressed no confidence in the Central Election Commission overseeing the election.

The rivals agreed at a meeting with mediators from Russia and the European Union to meet regularly to resolve differences.

"This was an extraordinarily difficult day," parliament speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn told Interfax Ukraine news agency. "Political leaders will now have to objectively analyze the possibilities and limits of compromise."

Oleksander Moroz, a Yushchenko ally, said the opposition could try to censure Yanukovich's government next week, though that also would be symbolic.

- REUTERS