Ukraine's opposition vows to continue fight
Opposition parties in Ukraine are vowing to continue their fight
against President Viktor Yanukovych, Radio Liberty reported.
They also say they will work to free Yulia Tymoshenko, the
opposition leader jailed on abuse of office charges that opponents
and the West say were politically motivated.
Tymoshenko lost to Yanukovych in a close presidential election in
2010.
Opposition leaders addressed some 1,000 supporters outside the
Central Election Commission on Monday in Kyiv.
Addressing the crowd, United Opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk
said the opposition would seek the resignation of Yanukovych, Prime
Minister Mikola Azarov and other members of the government.
The protest came a day after the commission released final results
from Ukraine's October 28 parliamentary election.
Those results show the ruling party of Yanukovych and its allies
retaining control in the 450-seat parliament.
Tymoshenko is now on hunger strike in Kharkiv to protest what she
says was fraud carried out by Yanukovych's Party of the
Regions.
She was jailed in October 2011 to serve a seven-year sentence for
abuse of office.
She is now facing a new trial -- scheduled to start later today in
Kharkiv -- on charges of tax evasion and embezzlement.
Yatsenyuk vowed to seek Timoshenko's release and urged her to halt
her hunger strike.
"Yulia, don't continue your hunger strike - only they want you to
starve! We need you strong, alive and healthy. We have more great
achievements ahead of us, and together with you we'll accomplish
these deeds. And I ask, that we together call on Yulia Tymoshenko
to stop the hunger strike, and demand that Yulia Tymoshenko be
freed," Yatsenyuk told the crowd.
The leader of the Svoboda (Freedom) party, Oleh Tyahnybok
highlighted the opposition's unity.
"The very fact that three political forces have agreed to a joint
start, definitely, I don't know what will happen later, but our
Ukrainian opposition train has already set off towards a great
Ukrainian victory, towards building a new government to the
building of a new Ukraine - not that Ukraine that was immersed in
corruption and lies, not the Ukraine where falsifiers, traitors,
and scoundrels rule, but a fair Ukraine," he told the opposition
gathering.
The opposition includes Tymoshenko's Batkivshchyna (Fatherland),
Tyahnybok's Freedom, and Udar (Punch), the liberal party of boxing
champion Vitaly Klitschko. Analysts say Klitschko and Tyahnybok
have strained relations, throwing doubts on claims of opposition
unity.
Earlier, the European Union said Ukraine's parliamentary election
was marred by a delayed vote count and other irregularities.
In a statement issued on Monday, EU foreign affairs chief Catherine
Ashton and Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele expressed "concern
about the conduct of the post electoral process, which was marred
by irregularities, delays in the vote count and lack of
transparency in the electoral commissions."
The EU has also criticized the build-up to the election and the
vote itself.