The party of Ukraine's prime minister, who has championed the country's Russian-speaking east, appeared to hold the lead Friday before parliamentary elections, prompting a last-minute reconciliation between his divided, Western-oriented opponents. Sunday's vote was called early to end a political deadlock pitting forces loyal to Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych against those of President Viktor Yushchenko, elected following the mass protests in 2004 that became known as the Orange Revolution. But experts predict the electorate will split their votes between Yanukovych's forces and those led by Yushchenko and his occasional ally, Yulia Tymoshenko.
Yanukovych's Party of Regions, which draws its support from the mainly Russian-speaking east and south, appears likely to get the most votes, giving him a strong chance of remaining prime minister, according to the most recent polls. But Tymoshenko, the blond-braided former prime minister and Orange Revolution heroine, is also a likely contender for the premier's job.
Voters in the Yanukovych strongholds of the industrial east are eager to maintain Ukraine's traditional ties to Russia. The parties of Tymoshenko and Yushchenko are more popular in central and western regions, where nationalist feelings run higher and voters hope to expand ties with Europe and the West.
Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko is expected to come in second, trailed by the pro-Yushchenko Our Ukraine-People's Self-defense group. But if they follow through on a last-minute decision to work together, their combined forces could outnumber Yanukovych's in the parliament, called the Verkhovna Rada.
All three parties held last-minute rallies in central Kiev on Friday. Yushchenko has called for unity between the once-estranged Orange forces, hinting he could support Tymoshenko as prime minister. ``I would like to say that we only have one option: forming a democratic coalition. Period,'' Yushchenko said while meeting with Tymoshenko on Thursday. ``There won't be any other coalition.''
Yuriy Lutsenko, leader of Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense, predicted that a majority coalition between his party and Tymoshenko's would be forged the day after the vote. ``I am convinced that ... Ukraine will get a pro-Ukrainian democratic majority,'' he told thousands of supporters in downtown Kiev on Friday.
Tymoshenko has long called for such a pact, and she cheered the president's decision. ``I believe in our victory, the victory of the democratic team, which - having learned from its mistakes - will work even more effectively,'' she told reporters.