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Ukraine PM files lawsuit challenging defeat in presidential election

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko filed a lawsuit on Tuesday with the Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine claiming that last weekend's presidential election was corrupt. Tymoshenko alleges that widespread voter fraud allowed her opponent, Viktor Yanukovych, to win the election. An initial fraud appeal to the Ukrainian Central Election Committee was rejected. Tymoshenko said that she hopes that the trial will be televised to ensure that the Ukrainian people know the truth. The likelihood of successful challenge for Tymoshenko is small. Western leaders, including US President Barack Obama, have already acknowledged Yanukovych as the winner and even many of Tymoshenko supporters have questioned her motivation for the lawsuit. Tymoshenko has a history of being at the center of controversial political moments in Ukraine. In March, she called for constitutional changes to provide more separation between parliamentary and presidential powers. In October 2008, Tymoshenko withdrew a lawsuit she had brought against Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko after he suspended a plan to hold early elections following the collapse of the country's coalition government. Before suspending the plan, Yushchenko had issued a decree abolishing a Kiev court after it tried to block his order dissolving parliament. Ukraine's leadership is divided in the wake of the 2004 Orange Revolution that brought Yushchenko to power as president.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on February 17, 2010 (boomark / email).