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Ukraine votes in presidential election key to foreign relations
It is the first presidential election in the former Soviet republic of 46 million people since the “Orange Revolution” mass street protests in 2004 broke the grip on power of a sleazy post-Soviet leadership.
In an ironic twist, the frontrunner in Sunday’s vote is opposition leader Viktor Yanukovich, once seen as a pro-Moscow stooge, whose rigged election in 2004 sparked those protests.
Opinion polls up to the start of the year, when their publication ceased under local law, consistently put the 59-year-old Yanukovich, a towering, barrel-chested man backed by Ukraine’s wealthiest industrialists, out in front.
Behind him, the polls showed, was Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, a style-conscious, sharp-tongued populist who has been accusing him of preparing election fraud.
Neither is expected to win an outright victory on Sunday and a second round of voting is expected on Feb. 7.
The euphoria of the 2004 street protests, which catapulted President Viktor Yushchenko into office, disappeared quickly after the “Orange” camp dissipated into bickering and power struggles while the country dived deep into a recession.
Yushchenko has little chance of re-election, polls showed.
”I have always voted, so today I came and voted again. But I doubt that a new president can change anything,” 56-year-old Iryna Sergeyeva said at a Kiev polling station, reflecting the disenchantment of many.
Analysts say it is crucial for Ukraine, which heavily depends on Russia for most of its energy needs, to navigate a prudent course in relations with its old Soviet master after bad blood between the two countries during the Yushchenko years.
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