Tensions Run High Ahead of Run-Off Elections

Ukraine will hold a run-off presidential election between Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and opposition candidate Victor Yanukovich on 7 February 2010. Tensions are high ahead of the poll, as both sides have accused the other of planning voter fraud. Most recently, Tymoshenko warned that she would call her supporters to mass protests if Yanukovich attempts to rig the election. The 3 February legal amendment, which removed a requirement that candidate representatives be present to monitor vote counting at polling stations, has further increased tensions, as Tymoshenko has claimed that the change is part of Yanukovich’s plans to cheat in the election. Both candidates will hold rallies in the Mykhailivska Square area in Kiev on 5 February. Given the proximity of the actions to one another, some minor clashes between rival supporters could occur, and the area should be avoided as a precaution. Demonstrations by either party at Kiev’s Independence Square -- the site of the Orange Revolution -- have been banned until the end of February. While the potential for unrest related to the election cannot be excluded, it will likely come from smaller groups of supporters rather than the mass people’s movement that was seen during the Orange Revolution.