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Ukraine's opposition vows to continue fight

13 November 2012 12:11 (UTC+04:00)
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.

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