Ukraine poll invalid, MPs declare
Poll did not reflect will of voters, parliament says
Saturday, November 27, 2004 Posted: 11:56 AM EST (1656 GMT)
KIEV, Ukraine (CNN) -- Ukraine's parliament has voted that the result of the country's disputed elections should be annulled, and the country's Central Election Commission should be dissolved.
Saturday's votes -- while non-binding -- serve as powerful political moves that observers say could possibly usher in new voting.
Analysts and authorities say the voiding and restaging of presidential elections is uncharted legal territory in Ukraine.
It is not presently clear whether the parliament or the courts have the ultimate legal authority to void the elections.
Supporters of challenger Viktor Yushchenko, whose supporters staged massive protests against the polls, believe the authority to void the elections remains with President Leonid Kuchma.
The measure to annul the election says the results did not reflect the will of the Ukrainian voters and should be abolished. It says new elections are needed.
Parliament members want a new election commission. The existing 15-person Central Election Commission certified the controversial victory of Viktor Yanukovych.
A multilateral group, set up by the two presidential candidates, was expected to begin negotiations to resolve the dispute on Saturday, according to Kuchma.
Yanukovych and Yushenko agreed Friday to set the working group in motion immediately.
As parliament discusses the political crisis Saturday, opposition demonstrators outside chanted Yushchenko's name over a sound system just outside the parliament building.
On Friday, Yushchenko told supporters in Independence Square that negotiations had begun and include the possibility of holding a new round of elections, because of accusations that Sunday's runoff balloting was rigged.
Javier Solana, European Union foreign policy minister, one of several negotiators, including other European officials, met with all sides in the crisis.
Among several meetings was a roundtable discussion that was the first face-to-face meeting between the declared winner of the balloting and the man who says victory was stolen from him.
Another election "is a possibility that has been on the table, yes," Solana told CNN International. But the results of the multilateral group's work, he said, cannot be predicted and he does not know how long a solution will take.
Both sides, however, have agreed to avoid violence, Solana said.
Kuchma held a news conference after meeting with Solana, Yushchenko and Yanukovych. Also attending were Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski and Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus.
It was the first face-to-face meeting between the two candidates since the runoff election erupted into a controversy. Speaking at a news conference afterward, Solana said the candidates gave each other a chilly reception.
At another news conference following the meeting, Kuchma thanked the European officials who had come to participate, and shook hands with both candidates, who stood on either side of him.
The president expressed hope that the country "would find with dignity a peaceful solution of this political crisis."
Solana earlier met separately with Yushchenko, who says he has proof the election was rigged.
"We are concerned about the process ... (we) don't think the process has been properly done," Solana said of the election before the meetings began. "This is a very important country for Europe ... but the quality of democracy has to be better."
Afterward, Solana told CNN International, the multilateral group's work toward a solution will be conducted in "a climate of transparency and participation" of citizens.
At a news conference, he called it "an important first step. A lot of work has to be done still."
Protesters have been holding round-the-clock protests in Independence Square, and around the presidential administration building and other government buildings.
Protests can continue, as long as they do not disrupt Ukrainian government functions or impede access to government buildings, Solana said.
Yushchenko told supporters on Friday that Kuchma and European leaders agreed that the election cannot be regarded as valid because of massive vote frauds.
Earlier in the day, officials from Yushchenko's campaign released audiotapes to reporters that they claimed proved there was fraud in the balloting.
The officials said the tapes came from law enforcement officials, and say that on them, an official with Yanukovych's party can be heard saying that they need to get into the computers because the vote counts are down and they have to increase them.
CNN cannot verify the authenticity of the recordings.
Thursday, Ukraine's Supreme Court barred the publication of disputed presidential election results until it can examine Yushchenko's appeal.
Yushchenko reportedly has rejected the prime minister's proposal to submit complaints of voting irregularities to the Supreme Court, apparently asking for another election to take place instead.
The court indicated it will conduct its examination Monday, the Russian news agency Interfax said.
Ukraine's Central Election Commission declared Yanukovych the winner on Wednesday, but the protests from Yushchenko and his supporters -- and international election observers -- began before the final results were announced.
A group of about 300 police recruits gathered around the presidential administration building Friday, saying they skipped classes to show Ukraine's police are with the people.
Yushchenko said he would not go so far as to try to foment a revolution to push himself into office, however. He said Ukraine's army and security forces have also pledged that they would not resort to violence, either.
Ukrainian legal experts told CNN that Yushchenko could not appeal the results of the election, but could appeal the actions of the CEC -- that the commission acted too quickly in declaring a winner in the vote without investigating allegations of fraud and abuse.
U.S. and British officials have called for an investigation into the election. Secretary of State Colin Powell said the United States does not accept the results of Ukraine's presidential elections as legitimate, citing "credible reports of fraud and abuse."
CNN's Jill Dougherty, Max Tkachenko and Ryan Chilcote contributed to this report.
Copyright 2004 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this
Ukrainian lawmakers react as they declare the disputed presidential election to be invalid on Saturday.
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