DUSHANBE, October 27, 2014, Asia-Plus – International media sources report that according to an exit poll issued after voting stations closed in Ukraine, President Poroshenko”s bloc took 23 percent of the votes cast for a field of 29 competing parties, just ahead of the party of his ally, Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk.
Reuters reports that the result, confirmed by other exit polls, opened up the possibility of Poroshenko, a 49-year-old confectionery magnate, continuing to work in tandem with Yatseniuk, with the latter staying as prime minister to handle sensitive talks with the West on aid for the war-shattered economy.
The People”s Front of Yatseniuk, a hawk in dealings with Russia who is liked in the West for his commitment to deep reforms and stewardship of the economy, reportedly took just over 21 percent of the vote with a third pro-Europe party from western Ukraine, Selfhelp, in third place.
A surprise was the strong performance registered by a group representing allies of ousted president Viktor Yanukovich. The Opposition Bloc of ex-Fuel Minister Yuriy Boiko was on 7.6 percent, enough to put the party into parliament.
Despite the surprise showing of Boiko”s Opposition Bloc, other traditional allies of Russia such as the communists flopped and the make-up of the future pro-Europe assembly seemed likely to spell future tensions with Moscow with which Ukraine is also locked in a dispute over gas prices.
Other parties which seemed likely to enter parliament on the basis of the exit poll included the populist Radical Party and the nationalist Svoboda (Freedom) party.
The Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko performed worse than many had expected, with the 5.6 percent it secured only just above the barrier required to be able to enter parliament.
With the party of pro-Europe party Selfhelp in third place on 13.2 percent, Poroshenko should be able to forge a coalition to move Ukraine toward the European mainstream, Reuters reports.
Though a fuller picture will not take shape for hours as the vote is counted, the exit polls confirmed expectations of a pro-Western assembly emerging from the first parliamentary election since Yanukovich”s overthrow by street protests in February, international media sources say.
The polls offered a reading only of party voting for 225 of the 450 seats in parliament and results from voting to single constituency seats will be known only in a few days time.
According to Reuters, the election completed attempts by Poroshenko and his allies to restore normalcy to the sprawling country of 46 million after a year of turmoil and violence
The outcome suggested many war veterans and “Euromaidan” activists enlisted as candidates will enter parliament, giving it a strong patriotic and nationalist tone.
The overthrow of Yanukovich by “Euromaidan” street protests, which broke out when he ditched a deal to take Ukraine closer to Europe and out of the Russian orbit, reportedly led to Russia denouncing a “fascist” coup and annexing Ukraine”s Crimea.
Moscow went on to back separatist rebellions in Ukraine”s industrialized east which have killed more than 3,700 people, Reuters say.
