Ukraine President Calls for Blockade's End [View All]

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=287318

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KIEV, Ukraine Nov 28, 2004 — Ukraine's outgoing president called on the political opposition to end its four-day blockade of government buildings over the disputed presidential election, saying Sunday that compromise was the only solution to the crisis gripping this former Soviet republic.

But opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko, who claims he was cheated out of victory through fraud in the Nov. 21 presidential runoff, urged his supporters to stay in the streets. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators have thronged downtown Kiev for a week to support Yushchenko's claim that the election was rigged and he was robbed of victory.

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The standoff has fueled a political tug-of-war between the West and Moscow over the future of Ukraine. On Saturday, Ukraine's parliament declared the election invalid amid international calls for a new vote, and lawmakers also passed a vote of no confidence in the Central Elections Commission, which declared Moscow-backed Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych the winner.


Both parliamentary votes, however, are symbolic only and have no legal standing. Yushchenko also has called for a new vote on Dec. 12 under the watch of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He has also demanded that the 15 members of the election commission be replaced.