Kuchma Says He Would Honor Court Ruling

KIEV, Ukraine – President Leonid Kuchma acknowledged Monday that he would honor the Supreme Court’s call for a repeat presidential runoff, an attempt to allay fears that he would prevent a new vote.

Kuchma’s comments, delivered at a meeting of key economic ministers, were his first in public since Friday’s court decision.

In another sign that the political crisis was stabilizing, more government workers ventured past opposition blockades to return to their posts.

The cooling of friction in Kiev came only days after Ukraine’s Supreme Court invalidated the result of the Nov. 21 presidential runoff election and ordered a repeat vote on Dec. 26.

Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych had been declared the official winner, but opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko complained he was robbed of victory and many Western nations refused to recognize the results.

Signaling he was ready for compromise, Kuchma said he was prepared to accept the high court ruling and reform the 15-member Central Election Commission, according to his spokeswoman, Olena Hromnytska.

“The high court has made such a decision and it must be fulfilled,” Kuchma said, according to Hromnytska.

Kuchma also said he was ready to sign legislation to reform the Ukrainian Constitution to implement electoral reform – as soon as parliament adopts the measure.

The 66-year-old leader, who has governed Ukraine for 10 years, has been pushing for changes to the constitution that would weaken the presidency and strengthen parliament – a campaign that observers see as an effort to hang on to power in case opposition leader Yushchenko wins the presidency.

Parliament on Saturday broke off a session and adjourned for 10 days after opposition lawmakers refused to link electoral reform – designed to combat fraud – with the constitutional changes.

As passions cooled, dozens of government employees walked past Yushchenko’s supporters to return to work – the largest number of bureaucrats to be allowed into the building since protesters blockaded the entrance late last month to demand a repeat of the runoff.

Protesters in orange hard hats and ponchos stood shoulder to shoulder to create a corridor for about 60 low-ranking employees to pass through. Self-appointed security personnel among the demonstrators checked identification badges and other documents before allowing the group to enter the building.

Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters nearby chanted “Yushchenko! Yushchenko!”

Technical staff have always been allowed into the building, but Monday’s action represented the largest single number of civil servants to enter since the protests began.

Yanukovych remained out of sight. An ally of Yanukovych told The Associated Press Monday that the prime minister had the flu and was taking a day or two to recover. Yanukovych was also helping prepare for the campaign, the politician said on condition of anonymity.

Yushchenko has pushed for quick passage of the election legislation and called on supporters to continue their siege of official buildings until parliament passes the reforms.

He is seeking amendments to election law that ban voting by absentee ballots and voting in people’s homes, which he said was used by Yanukovych supporters to rig last month’s vote. The changes must also ensure that opposition supporters are represented on election commissions across the nation, he told throngs of chanting supporters who gathered at Kiev’s main square Sunday evening.

He told them that “the entire world is proud of Ukraine.”

“We are witnessing a struggle between forces of good and forces of evil,” he said.

Yushchenko said little about his campaign proposals but repeated accusations that Kuchma had blocked key electoral changes through his loyalists in parliament.

He demanded a parliamentary session that would resolve issues key for “a fair, transparent and democratic vote on Dec. 26.”

Meanwhile, his fiery ally, Yuliya Tymoshenko, said Sunday that she wants to be prime minister in a new Yushchenko government.

“I know that if this power will be in my hands, then the people will know that they can expect results from me,” she said.

Ukraine’s election has led to a tug-of-war between Moscow and the West, which bristled at Russian President Vladimir Putin’s public support for Yanukovych.

Moscow, which considers this nation of 48 million people part of its sphere of influence and a buffer between it and NATO’s eastern flank, fears Ukraine will tilt further to the West under Yushchenko.

Western observers have documented evidence of massive election fraud in the east in Yanukovych’s favor. Yanukovych’s camp claimed they had evidence of voting irregularities in Kiev and some western regions.

Another round of talks with international mediators was expected Monday, but without European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, his office said.