Thousands of Ukrainians massed in central Kiev on Monday to protest against alleged fraud in parliamentary elections won by the ruling party as the opposition threatened not to recognise the new legislature. At least 2,000 opposition supporters carrying Ukrainian flags gathered outside the headquarters of the central election commission amid a heavy presence of elite Berkut anti-riot police, an AFP correspondent said.
Political tensions have surged in Ukraine as the authorities have still failed to publish final results from the October 28 elections more than a week after voting finished. Commentators expect the ruling Regions Party of President Viktor Yanukovych to take a wafer-thin majority in the new Verkhovna Rada despite a strong challenge from the opposition led by jailed former premier Yulia Tymoshenko.
Tymoshenko's Fatherland party said in a statement it was "ready to declare" the new Rada invalid unless the authorities "stopped the falsification of the electoral process". Its threat has been backed by the other main opposition parties, the nationalist Svoboda (Freedom) movement and the UDAR party of boxer Vitali Klitschko which has threatened not to take up its seats in parliament. Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the leader of the Fatherland coalition in the absence of the jailed Tymoshenko, accused the Regions Party of "stealing the votes of Ukrainians and changing the results in favour of its candidates".