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Fears of violence as Ukraine heads for polls By Tom Warner Published: October 29 2004 19:10 | Last updated: October 29 2004 19:10 Ukrainians are to vote for a new president on Sunday in a closely contested presidential election that pits economic liberals and
advocates of European Union membership against those who prefer post-Soviet traditions and strong ties to Russia. ADVERTISEMENT
The two leading candidates - Viktor Yanukovich, the conservative prime minister, and Viktor Yushchenko, the pro-European opposition leader - exchanged a final round of barbs on Friday amid concern that the violence that has marred the campaign could continue during voting or the counting of ballots. Mr Yushchenko accused Mr Yanukovich and other authorities of planning to rig votes. Leonid Kuchma, the outgoing president who is backing Mr Yanukovich, accused opposition groups of hoping to spark violent protests. Mr Yushchenko said his family members had gone into hiding after receiving threats and claimed he was aware of preparations by his opponents to flee the country. The Pora youth group, linked to Mr Yushchenko's campaign, called off a rally outside Kiev's Central Election Commission building on Monday morning after the far-right Bratstvo group, which supports Mr Yanukovich, announced plans to rally in the same location at the same time. Pora said it wanted to avoid a repeat of an incident last weekend when about 100 young men attacked a crowd of Mr Yushchenko's supporters outside the commission building. Mr Yushchenko's campaign said it was receiving reports of groups of "shaveheads" - a term that refers to young, tough men in the lower ranks of criminal gangs - being transported to Kiev and western Ukraine, where opposition support is strongest. Gangs of young men disrupted a mayoral election in western Ukraine in May by breaking into election commission offices and stealing ballots. Mr Yushchenko called on his supporters to rally by their local polling stations Sunday on night until their ballots were counted and outside 225 regional election commission offices where results will be tabulated early on Monday morning. Mr Yushchenko said his campaign was attempting to have observers equipped with video cameras at each of the 33,000 polling stations. The most recent independent polls, published in mid-October, showed Mr Yushchenko and Mr Yanukovich evenly matched, each with about 35 per cent support and well ahead of 22 other candidates. Unless one of the candidates wins 50 per cent of the vote, the two leaders will face each other again in a run-off on November 21. Andry Duda of the non-partisan Committee of Voters of Ukraine said the government had made many technical manoeuvres to boost Mr Yanukovich's chances, including a decision announced yesterday to reinstate the validity of old Soviet passports. Mr Duda said the decision contradicts the law on presidential elections and was clearly aimed at boosting the number of older voters, who may favour Mr Yanukovich. About 3,000 foreign observers are expected to monitor the vote, including about 750 from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, 570 from the Russia-led Commonwealth of Independent States and 345 from embassies. EMAIL ARTICLEPRINT ARTICLEMOST POPULAR
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