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Ukraine Prepares for Sunday's Presidential Election

   Peter Fedynsky 16 January 2010
   People walk through a street with a poster of Ukraine's Prime Minister
   and  presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko, right, in Kiev, Ukraine,
   16 Jan 2010

Photo: AP

   People walk through a street with a poster of Ukraine's Prime Minister
   and  presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko, right, in Kiev, Ukraine,
   16 Jan 2010

   Voters  in  Ukraine  go  to the polls on Sunday in an election that is
   expected to spell defeat for the incumbent president.
   Viktor  Yushchenko  came  to  power  in  2004  in  the populist Orange
   Revolution.   But his government has been plagued by political turmoil
   and a poor economy and he trails badly in opinion polls.
   The  man he defeated five years ago, Viktor Yanukovych, tops the polls
   with Ukraine's prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, in second place.
   It  is  widely  believed that neither candidate will win a majority in
   Sunday's election, forcing a second round of voting on February 7.
   Mr.  Yanukovych,  a  former prime minister, is considered pro-Russian,
   while  Ms.  Tymoshenko  leans toward the West, though she has vowed to
   repair her Ukraine's strained relations with Moscow if elected.
   In  the  2004  presidential  election  Mr.  Yanukovych  was  initially
   declared  the  winner  but  protesters  filled  the  streets  of Kiev,
   claiming  the vote was rigged.  Mr. Yushchenko won a new vote that was
   ordered by Ukraine's Supreme Court.
   Mr.   Yushchenko   and  Ms.  Tymoshenko  were  allies  in  the  Orange
   Revolution.  But they later became bitter adversaries.
   The Orange Revolution that brought the pro-Western Yushchenko to power
   caused  concern  within  Moscow and led to a cooling of Russia-Ukraine
   relations.

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

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