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<DIV>All,</DIV>
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<DIV>I'm so happy for the people of Ukraine that they get to vote again on their
crooked rigged election. I am awaiting the recount in Ohio to see how bad a
similar situation is there.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Dick Schmidt</DIV>
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<DIV><STRONG>Triumph for People Power After Ukraine Vote
Annulled </STRONG></DIV>
<DIV>
<P>Dec 3, 2004 — By Pavel Polityuk
<P>KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko declared
victory in an "orange revolution" on Friday after the ex-Soviet state's top
judges annulled a rigged election and ordered a new vote on Dec. 26.
<P>The Supreme Court ruling is a slap in the face for Russian leader Vladimir
Putin, who only on Thursday met outgoing Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and
said he was right to oppose a re-run of the poll's final round last month.
<P>A triumphant Yushchenko addressed tens of thousands of supporters in the
center of the capital Kiev, telling them to stay in the streets until Kuchma
sacked the government and the election commission that held the tainted
vote.</P>
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<DIV class=menu_box id=topstories>Young and old protesters clad in the
opposition's orange colors set off fireworks and cheered each Supreme Court
judge by name in Independence Square amid scenes of jubilation. </DIV></DIV>
<P>The crisis following the election battle between Western- oriented Yushchenko
and Moscow-backed Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich has plunged Ukraine into
turmoil and kindled distrust between Russia and the West.
<P>The judges agreed with Yushchenko's allegations that the Nov. 21 run-off vote
had been subject to systematic fraud.
<P>"Ukraine is henceforth a true democratic state," Yushchenko told the crowd,
one of his young daughters hugging his leg.
<P>"Mr Kuchma, Mr Yanukovich! Find the courage and go! Don't torture your
people."
<P>Putin had invested political capital in Yanukovich, congratulating him on a
win before it was officially announced, while the European Union and United
States made stronger- than-usual objections to vote rigging in an ex-Soviet
state.
<P>"This is the birth of Ukrainian democracy and a victory for the rule of law,"
said Adrian Karatnycky, senior scholar at U.S.-funded democracy advocates
Freedom House.
<P>"This is the end of Russian aspirations for hegemony."
<P>GEORGIA PART TWO
<P>Ukraine is the second ex-Soviet state in a year to back a Western-leaning
leader after mass unrest over vote-rigging. Similar scenes of protest in Tbilisi
a year ago led to the ousting of veteran leader Eduard Shevardnadze.
<P>"It is a historic day today not only for Ukraine but for the whole region and
for Georgia," Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said in Tbilisi. He wore an
orange tie, hailing a new "process of democratization."
<P>Yushchenko's reference to an "orange revolution" was a play on Georgia's
"rose revolution."
<P>"We want to see millions of honest Ukrainian people in power," he said. "We
want Ukrainian people to take power."
<P>The United States welcomed the Supreme Court decision, saying it was
important the new vote be free and fair.
<P>"This is something we've been waiting for a long time. That's why we've been
here for such a long time despite cold and snow," said Andrei Kuts, a history
graduate, in Independence Square, before rock groups kicked off a street party.
<P>The protesters have thronged the heart of Kiev for 12 days. On Friday they
chanted "Kuchma out! Kuchma out!"
<P>Kuchma's 10 years in office were tainted by scandal and he has no automatic
immunity from prosecution once he steps down.
<P>In contrast to the jubilation in Kiev and the Ukrainian- speaking west of the
country, the judgment was met with dismay in the Russian-speaking eastern city
of Donetsk.
<P>"It is awful how those people in Kiev treat us, people say we were paid to
vote for Yanukovich," said Sergei Masterzheka, 26, one of 4,000 supporters at a
rally for the prime minister.
<P>"We voted and voted honestly because Yanukovich is one of us, he is from near
here. We will vote again and we will show them how we support him."
<P>Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski, a mediator in the crisis, said he
expected the new vote to be fair and that Yanukovich would run.
<P>If Yanukovich pulled out at the last minute, Yushchenko would have to secure
more than 50 percent of the vote to win the election, Yanukovich aide Stepan
Havrysh was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency. There was no word from
Yanukovich himself.
<P>The crisis sparked a run on banks and has seen the parliament adopt a more
aggressive role, passing motions to sack Yanukovich and declare the election
fraudulent.
<P>Earlier on Friday, it voted to demand that Ukraine's 1,500 troops in Iraq
pull out. Troop withdrawal was a campaign pledge by both candidates but the
deployment was overseen by Kuchma. (Additional reporting in Kiev by Elizabeth
Piper, Maria Golovnina and Yuri Kulikov; in Donetsk by Lina Kushch) </P>
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