KIEV, 2 December 2004 — Negotiators made a breakthrough in Ukraine’s election crisis yesterday, with all sides concerned agreeing to new presidential election under terms stipulated by the Supreme Court.
The announcement came after three hours of meetings between the main Ukrainian players in the week-old drama and a high-level team of international mediators.
Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich and his rival for the presidency, opposition leader Viktor Yuschenko, met at the Mariinsky Palace with incumbent President Leonid Kuchma, Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski and European Union foreign affairs chief Javier Solana.
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Secretary-General Jan Kubis and Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus also participated, with Russian representative Boris Gryzlov joining the talks late.
All parties had agreed to form a working group to establish terms and conditions for the country’s next election, Kuchma said in a statement. The announcement made official days of rumors in the Ukrainian capital that the tainted Nov. 21 elections, which Yanukovich won by a small margin, ultimately would be annulled.
The joint declaration also set forth a mechanism for reform of the Ukrainian political system, and identified specific changes needed in election laws.
The working group would meet after Ukraine’s Supreme Court finished reviewing the results of the Nov. 21 vote, Kuchma said.
The declaration did not make clear whether the country would repeat only the runoff between Yanukovich and Yuschenko, or the first round vote as well. The Supreme Court’s final decision would be decisive in determining what sort of elections actually were held, Kuchma said.
Signatories agreed to keep Ukraine’s territory intact, apparently ending efforts begun by Yanukovich and his allies over the weekend for the secession of Ukraine’s eastern regions, if Yanukovich was not named president.
Yanukovich earlier in the day shifted 180 degrees on two long-held positions in the conflict, admitting the country’s past election in fact was badly marred by vote-fixing, and by stating he was against the break-up of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Supreme Court yesterday spent its third day reviewing allegations the results of Nov. 21 election were fixed. Public anger over suspected falsification in Yanukovich’s favor sparked the biggest demonstrations in the country’s history.
The Ukrainian Parliament yesterday passed a motion of no confidence in Yanukovich’s government, in part, because of his government’s failure to organize a free and fair vote on Nov. 21.
