Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Ucraina - la vittoria della rivoluzione arancione

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/07/ukraine-election-viktor-yanukovych
Ukraine's Russian-leaning opposition leader, Viktor Yanukovych, was last 
night on course to become the country's president, with early results 
indicating he had a lead of several points over his bitter rival, Yulia 
Tymoshenko, the prime minister.
Yanukovych, the villain of the 2004 Orange Revolution, appeared to be 
­heading for a remarkable comeback. ­Preliminary official results, with 
55.8% of the vote counted, gave him 49% against 45% for longtime rival 
Tymoshenko. Exit polls put him three to four points ahead.
Yanukovych said last night in a TV interview: "I think Yulia Tymoshenko 
should prepare to resign. She understands that well." He said his 
priority as president would be to restore the economy. "I will carry out 
the reforms that will allow us to overcome soon the consequences of the 
economic crisis."
Describing yesterday's vote as a "turning point in our country's 
history", he added that he would pursue policies that helped all 
Ukrainians – and would not favour one geographical area. "We don't need 
to find enemies in our country. We need to unite together," he declared.
Tymoshenko last night refused to ­concede defeat, saying her opponent's 
3% lead in exit polls was "within the margin of error … it is too soon 
to draw any conclusions". She is certain to contest the final outcome in 
court, a strategy which could lead to months of political turmoil in 
Kiev, as well as demonstrations by supporters of both sides. Even before 
polling stations had closed, her aides had accused her rival of "open 
banditry and terrorism", claiming that her election observers had been 
barred from 1,000 polling stations in the eastern Donetsk region. 
Yanukovych's Party of the Regions rejected this.
Opinion was divided as to whether the Orange Revolution had failed, or 
whether Yanukovych's victory in an apparently free and fair election was 
paradoxical proof of its success. In contrast to 2004, international 
observers said there was no major evidence of fraud.
"I don't think the Orange Revolution failed. It was about the kind of 
society in which we live," Sergiy Taran, director of the International 
Democracy Institute in Kiev, said last night. "It wasn't a choice of 
political systems, but of civilisations. We now live in a democracy, 
with political competition between candidates."
According to Taran, Yanukovych's chief task, if confirmed as president, 
would be to carry out large-scale liberal reforms to the crisis-hit 
economy. "It's the only way for him to become a legitimate and popular 
president and have support in the west. All other roads lead to 
nothing," he said.
The outlines of the new Yanukovych era are clear. He will improve 
Ukraine's strained relations with the Kremlin, rule out Nato membership 
– a Russian bugbear – and extend the lease on Russia's Crimea-based 
Black Sea fleet. It expires in 2017.
At the same time, he will seek friendly relations with the Obama 
administration. He also believes in European integration – economically 
if not politically.
Yanukovych has already promised to sack Tymoshenko as prime minister. 
Efforts to torpedo her parliamentary ­coalition began last week. They 
are likely to continue, with Yanukovich poised to lure away members of 
the current president Viktor Yuschenko's Our Ukraine political bloc, 
currently in Tymoshenko's government, and other minority parties.
Yushchenko defeated Yanukovych in 2004 but failed to secure a place in 
this year's runoff, and leaves office a deeply unpopular and divisive 
figure. Voting in central Kiev, Yushchenko hinted that he had refused to 
vote for either candidate, instead registering the option of a protest 
vote "against all".
"I think Ukraine will be ashamed of its choice. But that is also 
democracy," he said.
One-time supporters say Yushchenko is largely to blame for the 
disillusionment among Orange voters which followed his inauguration in 
January 2005. The novelist Andrey Kurkov said: "He didn't begin any of 
the reforms he promised during the revolution. He didn't change the 
legal ­system or fight corruption." Instead, he pursued a divisive 
policy of "semi-romantic nationalism", Kurkov suggested.
Kurkov said he remained optimistic about Ukraine's future. He said the 
much-vaunted division between Ukraine's Russian-speaking east and 
Ukrainian-speaking west was exaggerated. "Since the [political] parties 
don't have any ideologies, they clash with each other using language as 
the divide," he said.
Unlike Russia, Ukraine was a democracy, Kurkov said, with a tradition of 
dissent stretching back centuries. "There's a big gap between the 
Ukrainian mentality and the Russian mentality. The anarchic movement was 
born in Ukraine. From the 15th and 16th century and from Cossack times 
there is a love of lack of control.
"The Russians always elect a tsar to adore, and to expect presents from 
him. The Ukrainians because of individualism and egoism will elect a 
hetman [a Cossack military commander] and destroy him later. I'm quite 
happy because whoever is chosen today will be hated tomorrow by the 
majority of the country."
Kurkov, the author of Death and the Penguin and other best-selling comic 
novels set in the post-Soviet Union, said he had voted somewhat 
grudgingly for Tymoshenko. In the first round he had snubbed her and 
voted for Sergey Tigipko, who came third. Of Yanukovych, he said: "He 
doesn't speak Russian or Ukrainian. He doesn't speak, full stop. It's 
embarrassing."
If confirmed as the winner, Yanukovych will stand out among European 
leaders because of his criminal record. As well as allegedly fixing the 
2004 election, he was convicted in his youth of robbery and sexual 
assault. He served a second prison term for manslaughter.
Allies say that Yanukovych has since embarked on a redemptive personal 
journey. But he refuses to admit that he used fraud in the presidential 
election five years ago – despite the fact that a Yanukovych team was 
found hacking into the central election committee's computer.

 ­heading for a remarkable comeback.
ROTFL!
ti brucia il culo, zanardo?
Voto Ucraina, vince Yanukovich. Tymoshenko prende tempo
 Versione stampabile Il leader dell'opposizione Viktor Yanukovich sta
insistendo affinché la rivale, il premier uscente Yulia Tymoshenko,
ammetta la sconfitta nelle elezioni presidenziali ucraine, che secondo
l'Osce si sono svolte correttamente.
http://it.notizie.yahoo.com/4/20100208/tts-oittp-ucraina-elezioni-ca02f96.html