UKRAINE: Ukraine's opposition leader Mr Viktor Yushchenko claimed victory last night as polls closed in the country's controversial re-run presidential election.
A Yushchenko win is likely to push the ex-Soviet state, poorly managed for years but with huge economic potential, closer to Europe and, Moscow fears, further away from its traditional influence. Yushchenko scored 56.5 percent in the exit poll to 41.3 percent for Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, whose victory last month was overturned by the Supreme Court.
A second exit poll gave him a slightly wider margin of victory, 59.1 percent to 38.4 percent.
Yushchenko -- backed by hundreds of thousands of protesters who brought central Kiev to a halt for over two weeks -- claimed he was cheated of victory in the Nov. 21 election.Addressing crowds of supporters in their familiar garb of orange hats and scarves, Mr Yushchenko said he was "100 per cent" sure of victory over his rival, Prime Minister Victor Yanukovich.
With opinion polls giving him a 15-point lead, Mr Yushchenko said he did not expect a repeat of the government's ballot rigging which saw the previous election, on November 21st, declared invalid.
"I will win. That's 100 per cent. I'm absolutely certain," he said, holding his youngest son in his arms outside a Kiev polling station.
Voting was reportedly peaceful across the country in what was the most heavily monitored election in recent European history.
A total of 1,300 monitors from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) are on the ground, along with more than 7,000 more unofficial international monitors and thousands more local activists.
The election is the climax to weeks of street protests that followed massive fraud in favour of the government during the November poll.
The fraud, highlighted by the OSCE, saw three weeks of massive street protests - the so-called Orange Revolution - ending in a ruling by Ukraine's Supreme Court that the elections be re-run.
OSCE officials said they were confident that with so many teams on the ground, and more officials scrutinising election headquarters staff, they would spot large-scale fraud. Whether this prevents the fraud being carried out is unclear.
On Saturday, the Constitutional Court ruled that home voting, which had been cancelled in this election because it was abused in the previous vote, must be reinstated. Opposition supporters say the government can use home voting for voter fraud.
And while polling has been peaceful and turnout high, the controversy over the election has split the nation down the middle.
Mr Yushchenko is backed by voters in western Ukraine, who favour his policy of turning Ukraine towards the West, while the Russian-speaking east backs Mr Yanukovich and a pro-Moscow stance.
The divisions run deep. Last week government protesters blocked roads into the eastern city of Donetsk, forcing a convoy of Mr Yushchenko supporters to turn back and cancel a planned rally.
Mr Yanukovich, who has labelled the re-run election an "opposition fraud", said last week that if the result goes against him, thousands of "Cossacks" may travel to Kiev to seize the streets on his behalf. Yesterday, he was in optimistic mood. "I expect the Ukrainian people to make the correct choice," he said.
Opposition supporters said they would return to the streets if there was new ballot-rigging: "I voted for Yushchenko and I'm ready to stand for my vote so that it doesn't get stolen," said Ms Olena Semenyuk (24), an election observer in Kirovograd. "The Orange Revolution has raised people's awareness."
Outgoing President Leonid Kuchma, who has been accused of numerous scandals during his his 10-year reign, said: "Dear God, let this be the final vote. I'm sure it will be."