New Ukraine election ordered

KIEV, Ukraine — The Supreme Court ordered a rerun of the head-to-head presidential contest between Western-leaning Viktor Yushchenko and the Kremlin-backed candidate on Dec. 26, setting off rejoicing Friday by opposition supporters who waved orange flags and ignited fireworks as they chanted "Yushchenko! Yushchenko!"

The court found that government bodies had "illegally meddled in the election process" and distorted the results of the Nov. 21 runoff. The bold ruling was a rebuke to outgoing President Leonid Kuchma and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Hundreds of thousands of Yushchenko followers celebrated in the capital, chanting his name, wearing orange headbands that said "YES!" and waving orange balloons. Passing cars blasted their horns three times to sound out the syllables in "Yush-chen-ko." The crowds were the largest in the 12 days since protesters set up their tent camp in Independence Square.

In pro-Moscow eastern Ukraine, supporters of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych expressed anger at the decision.

"We have a president — Viktor Yanukovych," said Konstantin Sadalsky, shaking his fist at a TV screen in an Internet cafe in the eastern city of Donetsk.

Kuchma had initially supported Yanukovych and later — under pressure from the throngs in Kiev and international monitors who called the vote fraudulent — pushed for a completely new election. Critics said he hoped to field a new candidate more popular than Yanukovych.

The Supreme Court decision also was a slap at Putin, who appeared with Yanukovych during the campaign, congratulated Yanukovych on winning and on Thursday backed Kuchma's call for an entirely new vote.

The two-week standoff since the Central Election Commission declared Yanukovych the winner of the runoff led to the lowest point in Russia's relations with the West since the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999. The decision by the 21 justices — and a Yushchenko victory on Dec. 26 — could drag this former Soviet republic of 48 million out of Moscow's orbit and generate pressure for greater democracy in Russia.

Ukraine's Parliament planned a marathon session this weekend to pass an election law for the Dec. 26 vote in hopes of preventing the kind of fraud that marred the first runoff. Lawmakers were also expected to consider the opposition's demands to replace the 15-member election commission.

"We have proven that we are a nation that could defend our choice," Yushchenko, wearing an orange scarf, told supporters in Independence Square. "Justice and freedom are coming back to Ukraine thanks to you, real heroes."