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| Sunday, 5 December 2004 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Fresh polls to end Ukraine crisis Globescan by M. P. Muttiah Ukraine's political crisis ended with the announcement of a fresh Presidential election on December 26. Supreme Court judges, after five days of deliberations agreed that the election held earlier had been rigged. President Kuchma said that all sides had agreed to await the Supreme Court decision on the results. During the meeting with Leonid Kuchma, President Putin opposed a fresh election but pointed out that the final decision solely rested with the people of Ukraine. The Netherlands, that held the European Presidency, openly supported Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko and called for a re-run of the Presidential election. Kuchma, after meeting the EU mediators, said that all sides would work together to forestall violence, rebuild the economy and protect the territorial integrity of the country. In the Middle East, Al Fatah and PLO have chosen Mahmud Abbas (Abu Masen) as its candidate at the January 9 Presidential election. But, young Marwin Barghouti, an Al Fatah leader, has also announced his candidature with eight others and this has placed the Fatah and PLO in a quandary. Israeli Prime Minister Aeriel Sharon is poised to form a new government after his budget was defeated at the Knesset. He had begun negotiations with the Labour Party and United Torah Judaism to form a national unity government with the aim of implementing his Gaza disengagement plan. While the Labour Party is supporting the disengagement, the Shas Party opposes it. Former Labour Prime Minister Ehud Barak too had opposed the national unity government. |
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