Ukraine begins coalition talks
Self Reliance, a new Christian democratic party led by the Mayor of Lviv, was
in third place with 11 percent.
Others making it into parliament include the Opposition Bloc, a pro-Russian
party formed by members of former president Viktor Yanukovych’s Party of the
regions, the Radical Party of maverick nationalist Oleh Lyashko, and former
prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s Fatherland party.
Svoboda, a far-right nationalist party that was prominent during the Maidan
street protests last winter, may have lost its presence in parliament, with
the current count putting it just short of the five percent threshold needed
to enter parliament.
Half of the 450 seats in Ukraine’s parliament are allotted by proportional
representation under a party list system. A further 198 will be taken by
candidates from single-member constituencies under first-past-the post.
Turnout was 51 percent nationwide, the national election committee said.
The sweeping victory for pro Western parties partly reflects a shift in public
sentiment in the wake of February’s revolution and subsequent Russian
intervention.
Anti-government protesters clashing with police in Kyiv in February
(Bulent Kilic/AFP)
But it is also a result of some of the country’s most pro-Russian regions
being removed from the electorate.
About five million people in Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in April, and
separatist-held areas of eastern Ukraine were unable to vote, and the 27
seats representing constituencies in those areas will remain empty.
Both areas traditionally backed the Party of the Regions, Mr Yanukovych’s
pro-Russian party which held the balance of power in the Duma.
The election has been overshadowed by a worsening economic situation and
continued fighting in the east of the country, where shelling has continued
daily despite a nominal ceasefire.
European leaders praised the outcome of the vote, describing it as a mandate
for reform and closer ties with the EU.
“Congratulations to the people of Ukraine! Victory of democracy and
European reforms’ agenda,” tweeted Jose Manuel Barroso, the head of the EU
executive body the European Commission.
The elections was also cautiously welcomed by Russia.
“Parties supporting a peaceful resolution of the internal Ukrainian
crisis won a majority. This gives them a new chance to return to the
agreements made, first and foremost, in Minsk,” Russia’s Deputy Foreign
Minister Grigory Karasin said in Moscow.
But he added that the presence of “openly nationalistic and chauvinistic
forces” in the parliament raised the threat of further calls for the use of
force.
This appeared to be a reference to Mr Lyashko’s Radical Party and several
members elected from from first-past-the-post constituencies.
With 60 percent of votes counted on Monday evening Dmytro Yarosh, the head of
the nationalist group Right Sector, looked set to take a constituency in the
east Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk.
Right Sector rose to prominence during street fighting in Kyiv last winter,
but failed to muster the five percent minimum of votes for candidates on its
party list to win seats in parliament.
Fighting continued in the east of the country on Monday, with heavy shelling
reported in the outskirts of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk.
“Powerful firing has been heard from high-calibre guns and explosions,”
the Donetsk mayor’s website said.
Shelling and rocket fire was also reported near the Ukrainian-held port of
Mariupol, while military officials said at least two servicemen had been
killed in a rebel attack near the city of Luhansk.