UKRAINE: The contest involves high stakes which will determine whether the country faces West or sets up closer ties with Russia, reports Chris Stephen.
Ukraine's liberal presidential candidate, Victor Yushchenko, last night warned of mass street protests if the government falsified results in tomorrow's presidential election.
Amid opposition allegations of fraud in the first round elections three weeks ago, Mr Yushchenko said his supporters would not tolerate a repeat.
"If we encounter large-scale falsification, we will lead people on to the streets and we will defend our rights," he said.
His warning came as Ukraine's presidential race heads for a thundering climax amid claims and counter claims of interference by both sides. Mr Yushchenko, a former businessman, won 39.8 per cent of the votes in the first round of voting three weeks ago, fractionally ahead of the government's candidate, Viktor Yanukovich, the current prime minister, with 39.3 per cent.
But the last round of voting was condemned as unfair by monitors, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and observers will be out in force for tomorrow's second round.
Troops and police are on alert in the capital, Kiev, an opposition stronghold which has seen street protests after earlier claims of government interference.
The stakes are high in an election that is likely to determine whether Ukraine faces West, courting NATO and the European Union, or moves to the East and closer ties to its giant neighbour, Russia.
Mr Yushchenko insists Ukraine's future is with Europe, and has promised to dismantle a government machine he says has become a byword for corruption, opening the country to Western markets.
Mr Yanukovich, the choice of the current president Leonid Kuchma, whose 10-year term ends this weekend, favours closer ties with Russia.
Russia has returned the compliment with President Vladimir Putin having made two high-profile visits to support him in recent weeks. Russia has offered Ukraine free trade agreements and yesterday agreed to give Ukrainian citizens visa-free travel.
The voters are split geographically with the Russian-speaking industrialised east behind Mr Yanukovich and the west preferring Mr Yushchenko. For those in the East, there are warm memories of the security and relative prosperity they enjoyed when they were united with Russia in the former Soviet Union.
There is no love lost between the candidates. Mr Yushchenko's face remains partially paralysed from what he says was a poisoning attempt by the government earlier this year and which required treatment in an Austrian hospital.
Tension has been high since the two men squared-off in an acrimonious presidential debate last weekend, with Mr Yanukovich claiming his rival merely wanted to get his favoured cronies into power. "You and your team are bankrupt functionaries who got together to return to power." Mr Yushchenko accused his rival of promoting "destructive economic policies" serving a group of corrupt tycoons. "This is not a conflict between two Victors. But a conflict between two world views, two moral systems." Yesterday he repeated charges that the government was manipulating the vote.
"The authorities, of course, have no intention of holding honest elections," he said. "The Ukrainian voter must be ready to defend his interests as appropriate: on the streets, on the squares in Kiev, in other towns." His concerns are echoed in the West, with both the EU and America worried about foul play.
The government has denied the allegations, insisting it is working for a fair vote, and has criticised the opposition for holding rallies in Kiev that have led to scuffles and stone-throwing.
Meanwhile, the widening gulf between Russia and Europe has left Ukraine finding itself in a diplomatic no-man's land, courted by both sides. With this in mind, both Moscow and Washington have sent top officials to monitor the vote, including US Republican head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Richard Lugar, and the speaker of Russia's parliament, Boris Gryzlov.
With 48 million people, Ukraine, one of Europe's biggest countries, is a rich prize. During Soviet times its great Steppe were gold with immense cornfields, and it was known as the "breadbasket" of the Soviet Union. But the demise of the USSR, an end to state subsidies and rampant corruption have wrecked much of the economy.
The potential for prosperity is enormous. Besides its rich soil it has a huge land-mass, bordering three European Union states, plus a fourth, Romania, which is expected to join in 2007. But like most former Soviet states, the past 14 years have seen a small elite grow very rich while living standards for the majority remain the same, or lower, than under Communism.
Outgoing president Mr Kuchma insisted this week he was not to blame for his country's demise, denying allegations that he was in the pocket of tycoons and pointing to recent economic growth as evidence of his success.
But his presidential term was dogged by allegations of nepotism and by opposition claims he was involved in the murder of a journalist, Georgie Gongadze, in 2000.