Ukraine prepares for election

President Kuchma's supporters are trailing

By the BBC's Nikolai Gorshkov in Kiev

Ukrainians are due to cast their ballots in the third parliamentary elections since the country gained independence from the former Soviet Union 10 years ago.

Thirty-three parties and electoral blocks are vying for a place in the new supreme Rada - as the Ukrainian parliament is called - but only a handful are certain to pass the 4% electoral threshold.

The make-up of the new parliament may determine the fate of the stalled Ukrainian reforms.

The elections could be a chance for the opposition to instigate reforms

This campaign is widely seen as a dress rehearsal for the presidential elections due in two years time.

The main battle is between the so-called party of power, which supports the incumbent President, Leonid Kuchma, and an alliance of opposition movements led by the former Prime Minister, Viktor Yushchenko.

For the embattled president, this is a question of political survival - for Mr Yushchenko, a chance to start the long-needed reforms.

According to opinion polls, his block, Our Ukraine, is far ahead of the pro-presidential Coalition for a United Ukraine.

It is even said to look like deposing the communists from their pedestal of the largest single parliamentary faction.

But the two-tier ballot procedure may offset Mr Yushchenko's success in the party lists contests, by giving more seats to the presidential supporters in the single candidate constituencies.

'Dirty tricks'

Opposition supporters are worried that they will be denied a clear victory, which they say is the last chance for a country mired in corruption and mismanagement.

They accuse the authorities of a dirty tricks campaign which included unwarranted denials of registration to unwelcome candidates, or their arbitrary removal from the established electoral lists.

Concerns about the nature of these elections have brought in almost 8,000 foreign monitors, both from the West and the countries of the former Soviet Union.

Some opposition politicians say they are prepared to boycott the new parliament if the vote is heavily rigged in favour of the powers that be.

But much will depend on the political horse-trading after the results are announced.