Democratic Forces win in Ukraine

Having learned nothing from early prognostications in Florida in 2000, I will boldly congratulate Yulia Tymoshenko's BYuT / Our Ukraine Coalition for their victory over the forces of Yanukovych. While I am sure that there will be bribery attempts and whatnot from the blue team, at the end of the day the Orange guys took over 45% of the vote.

Here is what Canadian Press has on the wire:

Yanukovych's party ahead but Orange allies could win majority in parliament
1 hour ago
KYIV, Ukraine - The Orange Revolution allies made a strong combined showing in early parliamentary elections Sunday and could win a majority that would allow them to unseat their longtime foe, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, according to an independent exit poll.
The exit poll indicated Yanukovych's bloc had won 35.5 per cent of the vote, while Yulia Tymoshenko, the fiery Orange Revolution heroine, was following closely with 31.5 per cent. President Viktor Yushchenko's party was trailing a distant third with 13.4 per cent.
Yushchenko and Tymoshenko struck a last-minute alliance to form a coalition in parliament. If they follow up on their pledge and the president names Tymoshenko the prime minister, that would mend a rift that has split the Orange Revolution forces and thrown the nation into political turmoil.
A new Orange coalition could be expected to steer Ukraine more firmly onto a pro-Western course, while Yanukovych, who relies on support from Russian-speaking eastern regions, is seen as more Russia-friendly.
More infighting, however, could lie ahead as Yanukovych signaled that he would not bow out easily.
At the same time, powerful business clans behind the feuding leaders could play a stabilizing role; observers believe they have already divided spheres of influence and would try to avoid new tensions.
The exit poll showed the Communists, who said they would form a coalition with Yanukovych's party, got 5.1 per cent of the vote, while a party led by former parliament speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn, who has been vague about his future affiliation, got 3.7 per cent, just above the 3 per cent threshold for parties to get into parliament.
Even if Yanukovych's party merged with both smaller parties, it would still fall behind an alliance of Yushchenko and Tymoshenko, which together appear to have secured a simple majority of at least 226 votes in the 450-seat parliament if the exit poll's findings are confirmed.
The poll, conducted by a team of Ukraine's three leading polling agencies, had a margin of error of 2 percentage points.
Other exit polls had similar results.
About 60 per cent of the 37.5 million eligible voters cast ballots, according to the Central Election Commission.
Some 3,000 international observers - including Canadians - were monitoring the vote, and one member of the Canadian delegation said a number of irregularities were witnessed during the balloting.
Liberal party strategist Gerard Kennedy said from the capital that local officials also continued to harass his group of 128 observers, several of whom were briefly detained.
"We had some other incidents, some low-level bribes that we saw taking place," Kennedy said. "I think all of that stuff will have to come out in the context of how is the election is being done."
Still, Kennedy added, the election in the former Soviet republic was "quite the impressive exercise in democracy, albeit with some not-insignificant flaws."
Tymoshenko, smiling triumphantly after the exit polls were announced, said she would meet with Yushchenko on Monday to quickly formalize their new alliance. "In one or two days we will announce the coalition," she told reporters.
Yuriy Lutsenko, the leader of Yushchenko's party, said it was ready to back Tymoshenko as prime minister after the coalition is formed.
Tymoshenko, clad in immaculate white, pledged that the new government would push strongly for Ukraine to integrate more closely into Europe and quickly join the World Trade Organization.
At the same time, she said Ukraine would seek to develop good relations with Russia and hold talks shortly on imports of Russian gas and its transit to Europe. "We will guarantee a balanced, harmonious relationship with Russia," she said.
While Tymoshenko's headquarters celebrated the results with champagne, a gloomy silence hung over Yanukovych's campaign office.
A somber-looking Yanukovych made a brief statement in which he tried to present the results as his party's victory, saying it would now start talks with potential coalition partners. "We consider the election results as a carte blanche for our party to form a new government," he said. He took no questions and left.
As he walked out of the hall, a woman rushed up to him and asked with compassion: "Viktor Fyodorovich, why do you look so bad? Why is your face so distressed?"
"Look at yourself," he snapped.
Yushchenko has voiced hopes that the vote - the fourth national election in three years - would boost Ukraine's efforts to integrate more closely into Europe and leave behind the political infighting that has paralyzed the government.
Casting his ballot at a Kyiv polling station, he described the vote as a choice between the future and the past.
"The choice is between two alternatives: false stability and change," Yushchenko said. "I'm convinced that today, the nation will opt for change. I think that the elections will bring Ukraine mutual understanding and tolerance between political forces, stability and economic growth."
Ukraine's political fortunes had seemed firmly determined after hundreds of thousands of protesters paved the way for Yushchenko's victory in the Orange Revolution protests against Yanukovych's fraud-tinged win in the 2004 presidential vote.
But the Orange camp plunged into acrimonious infighting shortly after the victory, with Yushchenko firing Tymoshenko as prime minister in September 2005 after only seven months on the job.
Yanukovych, a 57-year-old former metal worker, made a stunning comeback in the March 2006 parliamentary elections when his party won the most votes, propelling him back into the premiership. Yanukovych sought to change his image, casting himself as a democrat and preaching compromise and stability. He also eased his affiliation with Russia and underlined his push for Ukraine's integration into Europe.
Unlike the 2004 vote when the Kremlin staunchly backed Yanukovych, Russia has stayed away from the parliamentary election.
Yanukovych fiercely resisted Yushchenko's April decision to dissolve parliament and call new elections after the president accused him of seeking to usurp power. He has accused Yushchenko's and Tymoshenko's parties of preparing widespread falsifications and warned he could organize protests similar to those during the Orange Revolution.
In the Orange camp, Yushchenko, 53, has struggled with voter disillusionment and a loss of support among many voters now backing Tymoshenko, known here simply as Yulia.
Tymoshenko, proud of her strong showing, openly declared her presidential ambitions. "Today's elections serve as a prologue for the presidential elections" in 2009, she said.
Tymoshenko, 46, who wears a flaxen braid wrapped on her head, had parted ways with Yushchenko after he fired her in 2005. Their two parties then lost a chance to form a coalition following last year's parliamentary elections, sowing even further disillusionment among liberal voters.
"I'm sure that Yushchenko and Yulia won't repeat their mistakes. I want to live in Europe, and only the Orange forces can take us there," said businessman Oleg Kileiko, 46, who voted for the president's bloc.
While Yushchenko's position has weakened, Tymoshenko has won over many of his supporters. Her bloc's showing Sunday far exceeded its performance in last year's parliamentary elections, when it won 22 per cent of the vote.