Via the BBC: Pro-Moscow Yanukovych ‘to win Ukraine election’
Ukraine’s pro-Moscow opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych will win a narrow victory in the country’s presidential election, electoral officials say.
With more than 97% of votes counted, Mr Yanukovych had a 2.6% lead over his rival, PM Yulia Tymoshenko, media said.
Mr Yanukovych called on Mrs Tymoshenko to quit, but she refused and is expected to challenge the result.
The results suggest a remarkable comeback after Mr Yanukovych was swept aside by the 2004 "Orange Revolution".
And in Costa Rica, also via the BBC: Laura Chinchilla to be Costa Rica’s first female leader
With most votes counted from Sunday’s poll, Ms Chinchilla had 47% of the vote, 22 points ahead of the main opposition contender, Otton Solis.
Ms Chinchilla, a former vice-president, has pledged to continue the free-market policies of outgoing head, Oscar Arias.
[…]
Mr Solis won some 25% of the vote, while the third-placed candidate, Otto Guevara, won 21%.
Interestingly, when Solis ran against Arias back in 2006 the elections was extremely close and the issue of CAFTA ratification (the Centra Amercan Free Trade Agreement with the US–i.e., a free trade policy) was very much a contentious one. It is interesting that four years later (and especially given the global economy) that there has been such a shift in public sentiment. Although clearly that was only one amongst many factors.
February 8th, 2010 at 7:04 pm
I’m rooting for Yanukovych only so we can refer to the new Ukrainian President as “Weird Vik” Yanukovych!