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Viktor Yanukovych: â€œYulia Tymoshenko should prepare to resignâ€

08 February 2010 09:01 (UTC +04:00)

Baku - APA. Viktor Yanukovych, a 59 year-old former convict, said his win opened a new page in Ukraineâ€™s history, promising to unite a country which is deeply split between the Ukrainian-speaking west and the Russian-speaking east, APA reports citing â€œUkrainskaya Pravdaâ€.
â€œThe Ukrainian people have supported us,â€ he said, speaking in Russian. â€œPeople wanted change.â€ Pledging to pull the country out of a deep economic crisis, he said he would not conduct a political witch hunt. Exit polls put Mr Yanukovych between three and five percentage points ahead of Yulia Tymoshenko, his bitter rival and the current prime minister.
â€œI think that Yulia Tymoshenko should prepare to resign. She understands that well,â€ Mr Yanukovich said. First official results, with five per cent counted, gave Yanukovich 54 per cent against 41 per cent for Tymoshenko
A fuller picture is expected to emerge on Monday, at which point some four fifths of the votes are likely to have been counted. Mr Yanukovychâ€™s victory sounds a death knell for the countryâ€™s 2004 Orange Revolution that set it firmly on a pro-Western course but failed to deliver meaningful changes. The big question now is whether Mrs Tymoshenko decides to accuse Mr Yanukovych of fraud and challenges the result. European election monitors are expected to pronounce their verdict on the voteâ€™s fairness today but have so far failed to report any serious transgressions. His victory could also usher in a fresh period of instability as Mrs Tymoshenko has hinted she may refuse to accept the results if she deems there was large-scale fraud. She has also threatened street protests. The head of her campaign was quick to allege dirty tricks this evening.
Ahead of the vote, he appeared relaxed and confident. "I am sure that the Ukrainian nation deserves a better life," he said, casting his vote.
"That is why I have voted for good changes and for stability." His advisers concede he is a poor public speaker but insist he is hard- working and committed to delivering better living standards, something Ukraine desperately needs. They insist he is not the Kremlin stooge he is often made out to be, though admit his policies are likely to be more palatable to the Kremlin than those of outgoing president Viktor Yushchenko.
Supporters of Mrs Tymoshenko blame Mr Yushchenko for the likely defeat. He and Mrs Tymoshenko were once firm allies but fell out repeatedly, paralysing political life and derailing reform. Mr Nemyria said: "The major part of blame should go to the president. Yushchenko never understood that the Orange Revolution was never about him but about Ukraine and its people." Observers say Mrs Tymoshenko has run a lacklustre campaign, however, and that voters associate her too closely with the failure of the Orange Revolution to improve people’s lives. Mr Yushchenko, who has seen his ratings fall to single digits, said it would be a sad day for Ukraine.
"I think Ukraine will be ashamed of its choice. But that is also democracy," he said.