(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Ukrainian prime minister and presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko is in third place just days before an election takes place in the country, according to a poll by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center. 13.9 per cent of respondents would support Tymoshenko in this weekend’s ballot, up 3.6 points since December.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Ukrainian prime minister and presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko is in third place just days before an election takes place in the country, according to a poll by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center. 13.9 per cent of respondents would support Tymoshenko in this weekend’s ballot, up 3.6 points since December.
Former economy minister Serhiy Tyhypko is in second place with 14.4 per cent, up 3.4 points since December. Former Ukrainian prime minister Viktor Yanukovych remains the favourite to win the first round with 30.5 per cent.
Support is much lower for former foreign affairs minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, current president Viktor Yushchenko, Petro Symonenko of the Communist Party (KPU), Volodymyr Lytvyn of the Lytvyn Bloc, former defence minister Anatoliy Grytsenko, leader of the All-Ukrainian Union (Svoboda) Oleh Tiahnybok, and independent candidate Inna Bohoslovska.
A series of public demonstrations took place in Kiev after the November 2004 presidential run-off. The Ukrainian Supreme Court eventually invalidated the results of the second round, and ordered a special re-vote. Opposition candidate Yushchenko—whose supporters wore orange-coloured clothing at events and rallies—received 51.99 per cent of all cast ballots, defeating Yanukovych.
In 2006, the PR secured 186 seats in the Supreme Council. Yanukovych eventually became prime minister in a coalition government with the Socialist Party (SPU) and the KPU. After a long political stalemate and disagreements between the president and prime minister, a new legislative ballot took place in September 2007.
Final election results released in October gave the "orange forces"—including the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and Yushchenko’s People’s Union-Our Ukraine (NS-NU)—228 seats, while Yanukovych and his allies took control of 202 seats. In December, Tymoshenko was ratified as prime minister, with the support of 225 lawmakers.
In September 2008, Ukraine’s governing coalition split in great part due to disagreements over a Georgia-Russia conflict. In the days following an incursion by Russian forces into South Ossetia, a Georgian breakaway province, Yushchenko asked the government to fiercely condemn Russia’s actions in Georgia, but Tymoshenko refused to take a strong stance against Russia. Yushchenko left the coalition as a result. A new parliamentary election was scheduled for December 2008, but was later postponed indefinitely on account of the global economic crisis.
On Jan. 14, Tymoshenko accused Yanukovych of preparing a "massive" fraud in the upcoming vote, adding, "A conscious disruption of the election process is going on."
The presidential election is scheduled for Jan. 17. If no candidate garners more than 50 per cent of the vote in the first round, a run-off between the top two vote-getters will be held on Feb. 7.
Polling Data
If the presidential elections of the Ukraine took place this Sunday, who would you vote for?
|
|
Jan. 2010 |
Dec. 2009 |
|
Viktor Yanukovych |
30.5% |
34.0% |
|
Serhiy Tyhypko |
14.4% |
11.0% |
|
Yulia Tymoshenko |
13.9% |
10.3% |
|
Arseniy Yatsenyuk |
5.6% |
5.7% |
|
Viktor Yushchenko |
3.0% |
2.6% |
|
Petro Symonenko |
2.2% |
2.8% |
|
Volodymyr Lytvyn |
1.5% |
2.0% |
|
Anatoliy Grytsenko |
1.2% |
1.4% |
|
Oleh Tiahnybok |
1.0% |
1.7% |
|
Inna Bohoslovska |
0.4% |
1.3% |
Source: Russian Public Opinion Research Center
Methodology: Interviews with 1,200 Ukrainian adults, conducted from Jan. 3 to Jan. 10, 2010. Margin of error is 4 per cent.
