KIEV, 26 November 2004 — Ukraine’s highest court yesterday blocked the inauguration of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich as the opposition called the military to join a general strike to protest the official result of Sunday’s presidential run-off election.
The Supreme Court rejected the official publication of election results that showed Yanukovich had beaten Viktor Yushchenko in the election.
In its ruling, the Supreme Court appeared to turn the tide of events in favor of Yushchenko, who has brought thousands of supporters on to the streets after alleging he was cheated out of the election.
A president cannot be sworn in without the result being officially published.
“The court ruling bars the Central Election Commission from officially publishing the results of the election and proceeding with any other action connected with this,” the court said in a statement.
The court said it would examine on Monday Yushchenko’s complaint that the election of the Moscow-backed prime minister had been engineered by mass cheating.
Yushchenko hailed the court ruling, saying it was only the beginning of victory. “This is only the beginning. It is proof that it is society that always wins. It is small compensation for the suffering that we have endured,” he told tens of thousands of supporters in Kiev to wild cheering.
Earlier, Yushchenko called on the military to join a general strike aimed at forcing the government to back down in the standoff.
“I appeal especially to people in military uniform... I want to say to you, we breathe one air, we have one country, and one constitution,” he said in Kiev’s main square.
“Take a decision during a meeting of officers and join the general strike,” Yushchenko added.
But in the divided state’s eastern regions, which account for most of Ukraine’s economic muscle, coal miners pledged support for Yanukovich and said they would not join any strike. The strike, also intended to shut down schools and halt transit of goods, was not yet under way but Yushchenko’s team said “decrees” launching it would be announced later. Some activists had already started blocking highways in four widely separated regions of the former Soviet state.
Under the court ruling, outgoing President Leonid Kuchma, who endorsed Yanukovich only after long reflection, would stay on in power for now.
Kuchma on Wednesday warned Ukraine could plunge into civil war and urged the West to stay out of the country’s affairs.
In The Hague, Ukraine’s crisis dominated summit talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the European Union presidency, who are at odds on the issue.
Putin, who congratulated Yanukovich as the summit began, later said outsiders had no moral right to push Ukraine into “mayhem”. Ukrainian courts, he said, should resolve any dispute.
Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski said he would head for Ukraine within days to help mediate. Poland, a NATO and EU member, is Ukraine’s main European sponsor. The West has made clear to Ukraine it regards the election as fraudulent. Apart from sharp EU criticism, the United States has warned Ukraine there could be consequences for their ties.
Election officials, defying calls by the West and tens of thousands of demonstrators on the streets of Kiev, declared Yanukovich the winner in the run-off.
As Ukraine seethed with turmoil for a fourth successive day, the central bank said it would support banks if they were hit by a run on deposits, sparked by political uncertainty.
The dispute reflects passionate differences over the orientation of Ukraine, a country of 47 million people that has a common history with Russia but also wants to grow closer to three new EU members on its borders.
Yanukovich sees closer ties with Russia as the key to future prosperity, while Yushchenko, popular in western and central regions, wants to move closer to the West while recognizing Moscow as a “strategic partner”.
On Wednesday, Yushchenko aides said opposition activists had blocked main arteries in Ukraine at the start of strike action. But another aide said yesterday a program of civil disobedience was yet to get under way.
There was a different picture in eastern Ukraine. “The miners will work and will continue to work. They know that without our labor the country cannot exist”, said Igor Strelchenko, a trade union chief in the mining town of Donetsk.
