With January 17 vote producing no clear winner, Ukraine will see a run-off vote between Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and her main rival, opposition leader Viktor Yanukovich. Voters appear to have punished incumbent President Viktor Yushchenko, one of the architects of the Orange Revolution for the recent political in-fighting and the deep economic crisis.
The second round vote is scheduled for February 7.
Exit polls showed Yanukovich (59) won 31-38 percent of the ballot but analysts expect Tymoshenko (49) to pick up a higher proportion of second round votes from defeated candidates.
Russian-speaking east of the country is the main support base of Yanukovich while his rival is most popular in the European-leaning west of the country.
Former central bank chief Sergey Tigipko who came third and former parliament speaker Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who is close behind him, said they would not come out in support of any candidate in the second round.
Both leading candidates have pledged to seek better relations with Russia apparently to avoid the any disruption in energy supplies.
In recent months, Tymoshenko has improved her ties with the Kremlin. Russia’s strong man, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, has described her as ‘a person Moscow can do business with’.
On his part, Yanukovich stands for a strong, independent Ukraine and is against joining NATO or any other bloc. He is however against any confrontation with Russia. His Party of the Regions is allied to the Kremlin’s United Russia party.
