Ukraine goes to the polls

There is to be a general election in the Ukraine today. An early election has been called - just 18 months after the last parliamentary elections - because of the constitutional crisis between President Yuchenko and Prime Minister Yanukovych.

In the 2004 presidential election, Viktor Yuchenko and Viktor Yanukovych were rivals. Yanukovych was accused of faking the results and, following what the media described as an 'orange revolution', a fresh, cleaner, poll was held that Mr. Yuchenko won.

However, since then, Mr. Yanukovych has made a comeback. The Party of the Regions has become the largest single party in parliament as a result of the 2006 Parliamentary elections. They were thus able to make him prime minister and defeat Yuchenko's allies.

The same thing may happen again in the new Parliament. The Party of the Regions could beat the Our Ukraine and Yulia Tymoshenko's bloc. The reason for this is that the Party of the Regions has strong support in the Russified East and from people who are sceptical about the free market and Yuchenko's pro-NATO policies. There is a wish among many Ukrainians for closer ties to Russia and for a retreat from free-market economic policies. Mr. Yanukovych is able to tap into that.

If the Party of the Regions, the Communists and others retain a majority in Parliament, then this puts President Yuchenko in a difficult position. He may end up by having to resign and a new presidential poll may also have to be called. We will have to wait and see what the people of the Ukraine decide.