Disputed election
February 15, 2010
The party of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has filed a formal complaint with Ukraine's top court over the results of the presidential polls won by Viktor Yanukovych.
According to Tymoshenko's campaign chief Oleksandr Turchynov, Tymoshenko plans to sue the Central Election Commission for failing to recognize fraud and for falsely declaring Yanukovych the winner in the February 7 election.
"The suit will be filed tomorrow," Turchynov said at a news conference Monday in Kyiv. "We want the hearings to be televised, and we hope the court will agree with us." He said evidence supporting Tymoshenko's claim will include video footage of vote fraud and testimony by former Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk.
In a televised address to the nation on Saturday, Tymoshenko refused to recognize Yanukovych as president and said she had proof that over one million votes were rigged. Yanukovych won by a margin of 3.5 percent, or roughly 890,000 votes.
Yanukovych's inauguration has been scheduled for February 25, with the AP reporting that the president elect may offer the post of prime minister to banker Sergei Tigipko.
Anna German, the deputy head of Yanukovych's political party, on Monday urged Tymoshenko to resign her post and stop "flooding" the courts with complaints. International observers, including the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, have described the election as free and fair.
cmk/AFP/AP/dpa/Reuters
Editor: Chuck Penfold