From the Associated Press:

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on Saturday dropped her legal challenge to her rival’s presidential election victory, saying she had lost faith in the country’s courts.

Her dramatic backdown after a pledge just the day before to fight till the end was the latest twist in Tymoshenko’s tortuous struggle to hold on to power and sent rivals and observers guessing what her next move will be.

“It has become obvious that it is not a court and it is not justice,” said the flamboyant premier, wearing a grey dress, her trademark golden braid wrapped around her head.

“We are withdrawing our suit,” Tymoshenko told the court as it reconvened to hear her case.

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The premier had called for the court proceedings to be televised, a request the authorities denied.

On Friday she wore a funereal black dress in the court as she appealed for justice in an emotional hour-long speech.

Judges withdrew Saturday to deliberate following her suit withdrawal, but after some two hours waiting for a decision Tymoshenko left the courtroom.

Andriy Kozhemyakin, a top official with Tymoshenko’s party, said the party would soon convene to decide on her next move but said she was unlikely to turn to the courts again.

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In parliament, Yanukovych’s party has launched an official motion to throw out Tymoshenko and her government.

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From CNN:

A Ukranian (sic) court on Wednesday put on hold the results of presidential elections that declared Viktor Yanukovych winner pending an appeal from his rival, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

Tymoshenko lodged an appeal with Ukraine’s Higher Administrative Court to contest the official results of the February 10 run-off. The court partially granted her appeal and stopped the Central Election Commission’s decision on the outcome of the vote.

Tymoshenko had fought a close race with former prime minister Yanukovich. He was due to be inaugurated February 25, the Ukrainian parliament said this week.

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It IS deja-vu from 2004! Not so fast Stephen Harper, don’t you have enough on your plate?

From the Associated Press:

Departing Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko says the policies of his newly elected successor risk turning Ukraine back into a Kremlin vassal state.

Yushchenko made some of his harshest statements at a news conference Tuesday against President-elect Viktor Yanukovych, nine days before he is due to leave office.

He says Yanukovych’s plans are degrading to the nation and the European course it has pursued since Yushchenko took office in 2005.

He lambasted Yanukovych’s plans to give Russia a stake in Ukraine’s natural gas pipelines and to extend the lease Russia has on a Black Sea naval base.

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From the Associated Press:

Election officials named Russia-friendly Viktor Yanukovych as the official winner of Ukraine’s presidential election Sunday

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The announcement appeared to have been rushed, coming three days before the deadline, even as complaints of fraud poured in from Tymoshenko’s staff. One Tymoshenko representative on the commission refused to read out the results from her districts, forcing a commission secretary to read them out in her place.

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International observers deemed the election free and fair

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It’s deja-vu all over again, with the CEC taking the place of Putin during the 2004 Orange Revolution:

Russian President Vladimir Putin has telephoned Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych to congratulate him on winning the Ukrainian presidency despite the lack of a final official result.

Earlier today, Ukraine’s Central Election Commission said that with 99 percent of the ballots counted, Yanukovych was leading with 49 percent of the vote compared to just under 47 percent for his rival Viktor Yushchenko.

Yushchenko has refused to accept the results.

Election observers from the East and the West are also at odds over the official numbers. Monitors from the CIS hailed the poll as democratic.

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In 2004, the run-off results that were deemed illegal by the Supreme Court were in favour of Yanukovych 49.42% vs. Viktor Yushchenko receiving 46.69%. In 2010’s election results Yanukovych gained 48.95% vs. Tymoshenko’s 45.47% as she prepares to take the results to court. Is the 2004 election fraud deja-vu, or should this year’s election results despite striking similarities be considered fair?