December 3, 2004
ORDERLY REVOLUTION:
Ukraine court rules poll invalid (Mark Oliver, December 3, 2004, The Guardian)
Ukraine's supreme court today ruled that the result of the second round runoff vote in the presidential elections was invalid, upholding an appeal from the opposition that the poll was rigged.Posted by Orrin Judd at December 3, 2004 1:28 PMThe court called for a new runoff vote to be held on December 26. But with the outgoing president, Leonid Kuchma, calling for full new elections, it was still unclear what form any new poll would take.
The court issued its verdict in response to an appeal by the opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko, who asked it to cancel the results of the November 21 runoff vote, which he said had been rigged in favour of the prime minister, Viktor Yanukovich, who was declared the official winner.
This is further evidence of the apparat losing its nerve. The Ukrainian military and security services have not been called out to suppress dissent. The courts have now ruled against the group in power.
Putin has definitely over-reached here and this could really rebound to trouble back in Moscow. The sharks are definitely smelling blood.
Posted by: Bart at December 3, 2004 3:25 PM