Ukraine Court Orders Revote for President
The Supreme Court ordered a rerun of the head-to-head presidential contest between Western-leaning Viktor Yushchenko and the Kremlin-backed candidate Dec. 26, setting off rejoicing Friday by opposition supporters who waved orange flags and ignited fireworks as they chanted “Yushchenko! Yushchenko!”
The court found that government bodies had “illegally meddled in the election process” and distorted the results of the Nov. 21 runoff. The bold ruling was a rebuke to outgoing President Leonid Kuchma and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The ruling is final, and the repeat vote is to be held nationwide, not just in the districts challenged by Yushchenko.
Hundreds of thousands of Yushchenko followers celebrated in the capital. The crowds were the largest in the 12 days since protesters set up their tent camp in Independence Square.
In pro-Moscow eastern Ukraine, supporters of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych expressed anger at the decision.
“We have a president -- Viktor Yanukovych,” Konstantin Sadalsky said as he shook his fist at a TV screen in an Internet cafe in the eastern city of Donetsk.
Parliament planned a marathon session this weekend to pass an election law in hopes of preventing the kind of fraud that marred the first runoff.
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