UKRAINE High court blocks declared winner's inauguration

The ruling surprised even the opposition camp.
WASHINGTON POST
KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's Supreme Court blocked Thursday the inauguration of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, the declared winner of Sunday's presidential election, agreeing to hear arguments that the vote was tainted by fraud and shifting some momentum to supporters of opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko.
"This is only the beginning," Yushchenko told a jubilant crowd of tens of thousands on Kiev's Independence Square after the ruling. "It is proof that it is society that always wins."
The court barred Ukraine's Central Election Commission from officially publishing the results of the balloting and agreed to begin hearing multiple complaints Monday from Yushchenko and his supporters that the election was marred by widespread fraud. Under Ukrainian law, a president-elect cannot be inaugurated until official results have been published, which the government had planned to do today.
Wednesday, the election commission declared Yanukovych the winner, with 49.46 percent of the vote to Yushchenko's 46.61, defying appeals from the United States and the European Union to delay such an announcement to allow a review of the election process and create some space for a compromise that might defuse an escalating political crisis.
Yushchenko's supporters have taken to the streets in vast numbers this week to protest the election's outcome. But a national strike Yushchenko called appeared to have drawn little support, and it was becoming unclear whether the opposition would be able to head off a Yanukovych presidency.
Big shifts
The court's ruling, however, gave a lift to the opposition campaign, while several significant cracks appeared in the government's hold on power, as workers, security service officers and journalists shifted to the Yushchenko camp.
"Yesterday, we thought we were losing," said Sergei Gayday, a Yushchenko strategist. "Today, after this decision, we think we are winning."
In The Hague, where Russian President Vladimir Putin was meeting with European Union leaders, the Ukrainian elections were at the center of discussions. Putin, who has twice congratulated Yanukovych on his victory, said foreigners should not push Ukraine into "mayhem."
"I am deeply convinced that we have no moral right to push a big European state to any kind of massive disorder," said Putin, who has staked some of his own political capital on a Yanukovych victory by twice visiting Ukraine before the elections to support the prime minister.
Ukraine's Supreme Court, which has four branches and up to 100 judges, can act both as the first and final court of appeal. When it accepts a case, the decision of one of its panels cannot be appealed.
"Under the law, the government and the Central Elections Commission must accept the decision," said Yury Vasilenko, a judge in Kiev's appellate court and an opposition supporter who has clashed with current President Leonid Kuchma. "Yanukovych has no legal grounds to contest this. The inauguration is suspended."
Kuchma, who is stepping down after 10 years in power, will remain president until there is a final ruling.
Initial reactions
Before the Supreme Court decision, the government appeared determined to ignore both the protests and Western pressure and proceed with a transfer of power from Kuchma to Yanukovych, who continued to condemn the protesters and those overseas who support them.
"The Central Elections Commission has made its decision," Yanukovych said Thursday on state television. "I believe that resolving issues in the street, appeals to resolve matters through pressure or revolution, are a deviation."
Although Yushchenko had called a general strike Wednesday night and some of his key supporters had urged transportation systems and schools be shuttered, Ukraine's rail and aviation systems ran normally Thursday. With the opposition campaign reduced to saying it would block some government buildings and major highways today, the Supreme Court decision was a major strike.
"The initiative has shifted," said Vladimir Polokhalo, editor of Political Thought magazine. "There is nothing the government can do legally and we have to hope, although I fear the worst, that they will not now turn to force."
"It's the beginning of our victory," said Pavel Golubev, 30, a car salesman who was in Kiev's Independence Square with his wife and father. "It's hope," added his father, Ruslan Golubev, 60. "This is great."
The court's decision surprised many Ukrainians, suggesting the legitimacy of the election was being questioned in key parts of society that were previously in the government's corner.