Global General
Ukraine PM Tymoshenko faces old rival in runoff
(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-01-18 09:29
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 Ukraine's Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko casts her ballot during the presidential election at a polling station in Dnipropetrovsk January 17, 2010. [Agencies] |
KIEV: Ukraine faces a run-off vote next month between opposition leader Viktor Yanukovich and populist Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko after an election for president produced no outright winner, exit polls showed.
The election will define how Ukraine, a former Soviet republic of 46 million people wedged between the European Union and Russia, handles relations with its powerful neighbours and may help unblock frozen IMF aid for its ailing economy.
Exit polls showed Yanukovich winning the most votes, but analysts expect Tymoshenko to pick up a higher proportion of second round votes from defeated candidates and say Yanukovich may struggle to extend his appeal beyond his support base in the Russian-speaking east of the country.
A slew of exit polls showed Yanukovich, a 59-year-old former mechanic, won 31-38 percent of Sunday's vote.
Tymoshenko, 49, who helped lead the pro-Western Orange Revolution against Yanukovich's rigged 2004 presidential election victory and is most popular in the European-leaning west of the country, scored between 25 and 27 percent.
First official results, with only a fraction of votes counted, showed Yanukovich on 38 percent and Tymoshenko on 25 percent. Counting was to continue through the night.
Tymoshenko hailed the result as proof that Yanukovich had no chance in the second round, scheduled for February 7, and called for talks with the eliminated candidates.
"As of today I am ready for talks so that we can move forward with uniting the democratic forces," she told reporters.
Knock-out Strategy
Andrew Wilson, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said the key survey was the one organised by the National Exit Poll Consortium which showed only a four-point gap between the two strongest candidates.
"Yanukovich's strategy was to knock (Tymoshenko) out in round one with a big lead," he said. "Clearly that has not paid off by any means. Most of the other candidates look like breaking in her favour. He's not got the reserves left."
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 Ukraine's incumbent president and presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko (L) lights a candle during a service at Vladimirsky Cathedral in Kiev January 17, 2010. [Agencies] |
