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Ukrainians Wait to Hear Whether Tymoshenko Will Concede Defeat

   VOA News 09 February 2010
   Ukraine's   Prime   Minister  and  the  Presidential  candidate  Yulia
   Tymoshenko  speaks during her news conference in Kiev, Ukraine, 14 Jan
   2010

Photo: AP

   Ukraine's   Prime   Minister  and  the  Presidential  candidate  Yulia
   Tymoshenko  speaks during her news conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, 14 Jan
   2010

   Ukrainians  are  waiting  to  hear  directly from Prime Minister Yulia
   Tymoshenko  on  whether  she  will  accept  the  results  of  Sunday's
   presidential  election  apparently  won  by  opposition  leader Viktor
   Yanukovych.
   Internet  newspaper  Ukrainskaya  Pravda  said  Ms.  Tymoshenko told a
   private  meeting  of  her  party  late  Monday  that  she  would never
   acknowledge  Mr.  Yanukovych's victory and would challenge the vote in
   the courts.

   She has not publicly confirmed or denied the report.
   Ms. Tymoshenko has remained silent after European poll monitors Monday
   declared  the  election  transparent  and  fair.  The Organization for
   Security  and  Cooperation  in  Europe (OSCE) endorsed the poll as "an
   impressive display of democratic elections."
   With  99.9 percent of the ballots counted, official results showed Mr.
   Yanukovych with a three percentage point win over his rival.
   Mr.  Yanukovych  has  already  claimed  victory  in what analysts both
   inside  and  outside Ukraine describe as an astonishing comeback for a
   candidate who fell from grace with Ukrainian voters in 2004.
   Six  years ago, official results showed the pro-Russian Mr. Yanukovych
   winning  the  presidency over pro-Western Viktor Yushchenko.  But huge
   protests known as the "Orange Revolution" over reports of massive vote
   fraud led to a new election won by Mr. Yushchenko.
   President  Yushchenko  took office in January 2005 with Ms. Tymoshenko
   as  his  prime  minister.   Their  partnership  later disintegrated in
   disputes  over  presidential  powers,  and both ran for president this
   time  around.  Mr. Yushchenko finished well behind both Mr. Yanukovych
   and  Ms. Tymoshenko in the first round of voting, and was not eligible
   for the runoff ballot.
   Mr.  Yanukovych  is a former prime minister himself, and was in office
   at the time of the last presidential election, in 2004.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

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