The end of weeks of political turmoil in Ukraine was in sight yesterday after the pro-Europe Viktor Yushchenko was officially declared the winner of a re-run presidential vote, paving the way for the inauguration of the "orange revolution" hero.
"In the repeat election of Dec. 26, Viktor Yushchenko has been elected president of Ukraine," central election commission chief Yaroslav Davydovich announced late on Monday to applause and cheers at the end of a seven-hour meeting in Kiev.
"Yu-shchen-ko! Yu-shchen-ko!" chanted the winner's supporters, packed into the commission's meeting room as they unfurled an orange flag, symbol of their standard-bearer's campaign.
Monday's announcement paved the way for parliament to set a date for Yushchenko's inauguration, despite vows by his defeated rival, pro-Russian former prime minister Viktor Yanukovych, to keep up a legal challenge over the election.
"This is the happiest day of my life," Petro Poroshenko, a deputy in Yushchenko's Our Ukraine bloc and one of the four leading candidates for the post of prime minister, said after the vote.
"Ukraine has proved that it is a European country ... A new country and a new government were born today," he said.
Nester Shuffrich, a Yanukovych representative at the commission, promised to appeal the results in the Supreme Court.
"Unfortunately the election results have been determined with violations of the election law and the Constitution," he said. "We will discuss these violations tomorrow or the next day at the Supreme Court."
Yanukovych has vowed to exhaust all avenues for appeal in what many observers say is an attempt to boost his image as a Yushchenko adversary ahead of next year's crucial parliamentary elections.
According to final results, Yushchenko won the election with 51.99 percent of all votes cast compared with 44.20 percent received by Yanukovych, a difference of 2.27 million votes on turnout of 77.19 percent.
Yushchenko's inauguration will put an end to weeks of political turmoil which flared following the now-discredited November election to choose a successor to the 10-year hardline regime of outgoing leader Leonid Kuchma in the strategic former Soviet republic.
The Dec. 26 rematch was set after the Supreme Court threw out results of a Nov. 21 runoff, which election officials said was won by Yanukovych because of massive fraud.
The ruling sparked massive "orange revolution" protests as hundreds of thousands of people descended on Kiev to support their standard-bearer.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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