Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko declared on Saturday that she had proof of cheating in a Feb. 7 presidential election by her rival Viktor Yanukovich, and said she would challenge his victory in court.
"I want to clearly state: Yanukovich is not our president. Whatever happens in future, he will never become the legitimately elected president of Ukraine," she said in a televised broadcast to the nation.
At the same time she promised not to call people out in mass protests as she did when she successfully challenged his election in 2004 in the Orange Revolution. "I will not call another ‘Maidan’ (Independence Square demonstration) and will not allow public protests," she said.
Her continued refusal to concede victory to Yanukovich or heed his call to resign as prime minister spelled continuing political turmoil for the ex-Soviet state of 46 million.
Analysts say continued instability threatens any chance of a quick economic recovery and early resumption of much-needed International Monetary Fund lending to the country.
"Today I can firmly tell you that Ukraine’s elections were falsified and this is not a political declaration but a clear legal assessment by lawyers," said Tymoshenko.
She said that fraud carried out by different means had affected more than one million votes — a level which she said would have tipped the scales in her favour.
According to preliminary official figures, Yanukovich beat her by 3.5 percentage points with about 880,000 more votes.
"With all this proof, I have taken the only possible decision: to challenge the results of the election in court. I will defend our state and the choice we made on the basis of legal documents," she said.
