The leaders of Ukraine's Orange Revolution are claiming victory after exit polls gave them a slim lead in parliamentary elections on Sunday.
They say they will reform their governing coalition, but their advantage may not be enough to end years of political crisis.
If there was one clear winner in the elections, it was Orange Revolution heroine Yulia Tymoshenko. Exit polls gave the former prime minister's bloc a second-place finish with 10 percent more votes than it won in elections last year.
The glamorous party leader, still wearing her trademark crown of braided hair, swept into her campaign headquarters to announce a victory for democracy.
Democracy Scores Victory
"Ukraine voted decisively for democratic forces, and we have to live up to the people's trust in us. No one can take away the victory Ukraine has scored," Tymoshenko said.
Exit polls suggested pro-western President Viktor Yushchenko's bloc would take third place. The results appear to give the Orange coalition less than a one-percent advantage. But Tymoshenko said it was enough for her to ask the president to form a new government.
"Tomorrow I will ask the president to form a coalition of democratic forces. We will put together a new government within days," she said.
Orange Revolution Team Mends Fences
The Orange coalition first took power after street demonstrations over a rigged presidential election in 2004 brought Yushchenko to power. But bitter infighting split the Orange team a year later, when Yushchenko fired Tymoshenko from her post as prime minister.
Both sides say they have learned their lessons since then and have drawn up an iron-clad agreement over a major reform program for the country.
Yuriy Lutsenko, the top candidate of Yushchenko's bloc, said it was ready to back Tymoshenko's return to the prime minister's office.
"The election results are a victory for our entire team of democratic forces. It may be a small margin, but it nevertheless shows Ukrainians have chosen a European path of development over the neocolonial policies of the previous government," Lutsenko said.
Pro-Moscow Party Also Claims Victory
That government was led by the pro-Moscow Party of Regions, which won the most votes in Sunday's election. That is probably not enough to block the Orange camp from taking power, but party's leader Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych was defiant. Across town from Tymoshenko's campaign headquarters, the grim-faced former metalworker told reporters his party would form a ruling coalition.
"We consider the elections' results a carte blanche for our party to form a new government. Tomorrow I'll invite our partners for talks about forming a new coalition," Yanukovych said.
With both sides claiming victory, the stage appears set for a possible confrontation as official results are announced on Monday. Two other parties won seats in parliament, and the elections' outcome may be decided by the centrist bloc of former parliamentary speaker Vladimir Lytvyn. His spokeswoman, Olga Dmitricaeva, said, so far, he is not disclosing his preferences.
Political Deadlock May Continue
"Vladimir Lytvyn isn't tied down by any agreements over joining a coalition. It's still too early to say if he'll join any coalition at all," she said.
The Orange forces said all their efforts are going into making sure the vote count is fair. Both sides have accused each other of falsifications, although they say inconsistencies are not significant enough to alter the elections' results.
As Ukrainians wait for the official tally to be announced on Monday, analysts said the Orange camp's apparently small margin of victory means even if they are declared the winners, they will have a difficult time trying to lead the country out of its political deadlock.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. 9(MDAzMjM2NDYzMDEyMzc1Njk5NjAxNzY3OQ001))
