Supremes Block Certification of Ukraine Election

Reuters:

(Kiev) Ukraine's highest court on Thursday blocked the inauguration of the country's Moscow-backed prime minister as president, giving a fresh impetus to his liberal opponent who has led street protests to overturn his election.

The Supreme Court rejected official publication of results that showed Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich had beaten Viktor Yushchenko in a run-off election on Sunday. The ruling effectively stopped Yanukovich being sworn in as head of state.

The West-leaning Yushchenko, who says he was robbed of victory by electoral fraud, hailed the ruling as a victory.

So far, reports indicate that the atmosphere is high tension but the protests have been peaceful, even friendly, in nature. It remains to be seen how long it will last since Eastern European governments don't have a history of tolerating public dissent for extended lengths of time. The Supreme Court will examine the complaints of election fraud next week. In the meantime, outgoing President Leonid Kuchma will remain in office.

(via PoliBlog)