Ukraine backs reform in tight poll

It appears there will be no clear leadership in parliament

A pro-Western reform bloc has secured a slim parliamentary lead in Ukrainian general elections which saw voters overwhelmingly reject left-wing parties, but no group has emerged as a clear victor.

Seats allocated

Our Ukraine: 112

For United Ukraine: 102

Communists: 66

Independents: 93

Other parties: 77

Final results from Sunday's ballot gave the reformist bloc of Viktor Yushchenko 112 seats in the 450-seat house, while a grouping loyal to the scandal-ridden President Leonid Kuchma followed on its heels with 102 seats.

The Communist party emerged with their worst result ever from post-Soviet parliamentary elections.

But with 66 seats they will nonetheless retain a role in a parliament which lacks a clear majority and where horse trading is likely to be the norm.

The election was complicated by Ukraine's two-tier election mechanism under which half the 450 seats are allotted on a proportional basis, the other half through a first-past-the-post system.

On the popular vote, Mr Yushchenko's Our Ukraine and the Communists took 23% and 20% respectively, while For United Ukraine notched up just 12% of the vote.

But the pro-Kuchma bloc fared well in constituencies operating a first-past-the-post system, where correspondents say business barons and regional leaders loyal to Kuchma largely hold sway.

Ninety-three independent candidates have won seats in parliament, and it is these politicians which the two main blocs will be hoping to bring on side.

Some analysts predict that the majority of these deputies will opt to back the pro-Kuchma bloc.

But BBC Eurasia analyst Stephen Eke says differences between Our Ukraine and For a United Ukraine should not be exaggerated.

He notes that while the two campaigned against each other, their manifestos and philosophies are remarkably similar.

Dirty campaign

Some 65% of Ukraine's 37 million voters cast their ballots in the election, which was seen by many as a mid-term referendum on President Kuchma's performance.

Yushchenko had anticipated a clear victory on the strength of exit polls

The president is implicated in a series of scandals ranging from the killing of a prominent journalist to an illegal sale of arms to Iraq.

Correspondents say that the results of the election will not enhance his current influence but may well maintain it.

The election campaign, the third in the 10 years since independence, was branded the dirtiest in Ukraine's history.

Mr Yushchenko's party said that in some constituencies, its delegates were taken off the ballot papers at the very last moment.

The United States has criticised the government for not having done more to ensure a fair election.

A spokesman for the State Department in Washington said steps had not been taken to curb the widespread and open abuse of authority.

An election monitor from Denmark, Hanne Severinsen, was more blunt when she dismissed the election arrangements as "completely incompetent".

"Queues were huge and people just gave up," she said, with the result that few voters were able to cast their ballot.