Ukraine High Court Orders a Revote

The Supreme Court of Ukraine ruled the nation’s disputed presidential runoff election invalid Friday and ordered a revote by Dec. 26, a decision that sent thousands of jubilant backers of pro-West opposition leader Victor Yushchenko into the streets in celebration.

The court declared that the Nov. 21 runoff, in which pro-Russia Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich led Yushchenko by a slim margin, had been marred by fraud.

Parliament was to meet today and Sunday to consider legislation needed to implement the court ruling. Members were expected to pass legislation aimed at preventing fraud in the repeat vote, in particular a ban on absentee ballots.

Yushchenko supporters, convinced that his path to the presidency was now clear, gathered with him in Kiev’s main square for a massive rally.

“The judges of the Supreme Court are the true heroes today,” Yushchenko said, his two young daughters on the stage next to him, one of them hugging his leg. “Justice, the rule of law and freedom have started to return to Ukraine, thanks to today’s decision.”

There was no immediate reaction from Yanukovich, who had been officially declared the winner of the runoff, which opposition members and foreign observers said had been rigged.

But Stepan Gavrish, one of the prime minister’s representatives on the Central Election Commission, told reporters that by demanding a revote, the court had exceeded the bounds of the case it was hearing. The opposition appeal had asked the court to annul the runoff and declare Yushchenko the winner based on his narrow victory in the multi-candidate first round, held Oct. 31.

“This is a political decision, a way to resolve the political crisis, but I am not sure that it will be successful,” Gavrish said. “The court exceeded the limits of the complaint from Viktor Yushchenko, who did not ask for another ballot.”

Russian news agency Interfax reported that Gavrish, asked whether Yanukovich would agree to compete in a revote, replied, “I don’t know.”

Among the possible scenarios for the pending vote are “an easy victory for Viktor Yushchenko” and “a difficult victory for Viktor Yanukovich,” Gavrish said.

In Washington, the State Department welcomed the court ruling.

“We certainly agree with the decision that the last round was marked by significant fraud and that it therefore can’t be upheld as a fair result,” department spokesman Richard Boucher said. “What is important now is to move ahead quickly to ensure a new vote that is fair, free and that results in an outcome that reflects the will of the Ukrainian people.”

Outgoing President Leonid D. Kuchma has endorsed the idea of more voting to resolve the crisis, but said it must be another two-round election open to new candidates.

Yushchenko told the Independence Square rally that the court ruling “put a full stop” to that idea. The crowd responded by chanting, “Away with Kuchma!”

Kuchma made no immediate comment, but both sides have said they would abide by any Supreme Court ruling. An agreement among Kuchma, Yanukovich and Yushchenko, reached with the help of European mediators, linked some form of new election with political reforms that would shift some power from the president to the prime minister. It was not immediately clear how strictly action on those reforms, which must be enacted by parliament, might be linked to meeting the Dec. 26 deadline for a revote.

Meanwhile, parliament, exercising increasing independence from Kuchma, voted 257 to 0 to pull the country’s 1,600 troops out of Iraq. The vote is nonbinding. Both presidential contenders made campaign pledges to pull out the troops.

Yushchenko is widely seen as a pro-West democrat, while Yanukovich, whose power base is in the country’s largely Russian-speaking east, has Moscow’s backing. But the presence of Ukrainian soldiers in Iraq is highly unpopular here. Parliament cited a “sharp deterioration of the situation in Iraq” in justifying its pullout resolution.

Despite likely displeasure in Washington over an Iraq pullout, a Yushchenko victory is expected to move this nation of 48 million toward warmer ties with Western Europe and the United States. Western governments have provided critical backing for his charge that the runoff tally was fraudulent and that a revote must be held.

Within Ukraine, Yushchenko has the fervent support of those who want the country to follow the path of post-communist European integration blazed by former Soviet satellite states such as Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, all now members of the European Union and NATO.

By law, balloting must be held on a Sunday, and the Supreme Court ruling said it must come within three weeks of this Sunday. That was widely interpreted to mean that the revote would be held on the last possible day, Dec. 26, since time is needed to prepare.

If Yanukovich withdrew from the runoff at least 10 days before the balloting, he would be replaced by the first round’s third-place finisher, Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz, who joined Yushchenko’s side after the first round. If Yanukovich were to withdraw less than 10 days before the balloting, Yushchenko would run unopposed, and would need to win a majority of votes to become president.

Yushchenko urged Kuchma to quickly fire Yanukovich and his Cabinet in line with a parliamentary no-confidence vote Wednesday. He charged that the Central Election Commission had betrayed the nation by endorsing a fraudulent election, and demanded that its makeup be revised for the new balloting.

Yushchenko also faulted Kuchma for making a quick trip to Moscow on Thursday, where he won Russian President Vladimir V. Putin’s endorsement for an entirely new election.

“Kuchma didn’t seek advice from the people. Instead he went abroad,” Yushchenko said. “Doesn’t it hurt, friends.”

The crowd responded by chanting: “Shame! Shame!”

Yushchenko issued a thinly veiled threat that Kuchma should stop dragging his feet on meeting opposition demands. “Every day of delays

Yushchenko also spoke of an atmosphere of romance and love among the tens of thousands of people who have spent 12 cold days maintaining a round-the-clock vigil in the square and an adjacent tent encampment.

He cited the earlier appearance of some newlyweds on stage, and added, “I think that in nine months there will be babies born, not necessarily here on the square, and these may be the best present from the holiday we feel now.”

Anya Bulatetska, 50, a printing shop employee who was in the exuberant crowd, said that in her opinion, Kuchma should go to prison.

“We are very sure Yushchenko will become the president,” she said, expressing confidence that the opposition leader was more popular than ever thanks to the nearly two weeks of protests and a shift in recent days toward more neutral political coverage on major television networks, which previously were strictly pro-government.

“Those who didn’t know the truth know it now,” she said.

It all means, she predicted, that the bitter political struggle is headed for a fairy-tale ending: “We’ll vote, and then live happily ever after.”