At The Polls Ukraine And Ecuador

With disillusioned voters seeking change, two parties appear poised to win parliamentary elections.

Last update: September 30, 2007 - 9:42 PM

The latest: The fractious inheritors of Ukraine's Orange Revolution made a strong combined showing in Sunday's parliamentary elections and looked poised to possibly win a majority that could unseat Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and steer the country more firmly onto a pro-Western course, an exit poll showed. But because the vote was so close -- the first official results aren't expected until today -- victory for President Viktor Yushchenko and his sometime ally Yulia Tymoshenko could yet be overturned.

At stake: The final outcome will open a period of intense horse-trading in a country that has been plagued by political instability and infighting since Yushchenko defeated Yanukovych for the presidency in late 2004. The results represent a major victory for Tymoshenko, the fiery leader of the street protests that swept Yushchenko into the presidency. Tymoshenko then became prime minister, but she and Yushchenko fell out bitterly within a year, facilitating the return of their archrival, Russian-friendly Yanukovych, as prime minister.

Promises: Tymoshenko and Yushchenko trumpeted their reconciliation in the run-up to the vote -- the fourth in three years -- and promised to form a new government quickly should they win. "Ukraine will see no quarrels between us," Tymoshenko said Sunday night. "We have resolved all issues." But the two partners remain wary of each other, and difficult talks between them appear likely.

The new Orange: Yushchenko's party is expected to come in third, reflecting how far his popularity has dropped since the Orange Revolution, when he was poisoned by dioxin yet still won the presidency. Yushchenko, 53, has struggled with disillusionment, and many voters now back Tymoshenko, 46, who wears a flaxen braid atop her head and is known here simply as Yulia. "I want to live in Europe, and only the Orange forces can take us there," said Oleg Kileiko, a 46-year-old businessman who voted for the president's bloc.

A NEW ECUADOR?

President Rafael Correa, who wants to bring a "21st century socialism" to Ecuador, hoped voters Sunday would elect his allies to an assembly tasked with rewriting the nation's constitution. Correa's opponents accuse him of seeking to concentrate and extend his power, but Correa denies such accusations. Pre-election polls showed Ecuadoreans, disillusioned with their political system, were likely to give the president's new political movement the greatest number of seats in the 130-member body. An official tally of results was expected to take weeks because of the complexity of the ballot.

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