Pro-West parties secure big win in Ukraine election

FE Team | Published: October 28, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

UKRAINE, Oct 27 (Reuters): Pro-Europe parties secured a big win in an election in Ukraine, a partial vote count showed on Monday, with President Petro Poroshenko hailing people's support for his plan to end a separatist war and pursue democratic reforms sought by the West.
Early figures from the vote count showed that Poroshenko's bloc and the party of his ally, Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk, were both taking over 21 percent of the votes cast from a field of 29 competing parties.
Addressing Ukrainians two hours after polling ended on Sunday night, he thanked voters for backing a "democratic, reformist, pro-Ukrainian and pro-European majority".
"The majority of voters were in favor of the political forces that support the president's peace plan and seek a political solution to the situation in the Donbass," Poroshenko said, referring to the region of the industrialised east where government forces have been fighting separatist rebels.
With more than a quarter of the vote counted, the central election commission gave the People's Front of Yatseniuk a vote share of 21.67 percent fractionally ahead of Poroshenko's bloc which was on 21.63 percent.
An earlier partial count and exit polls had put Poroshenko's grouping slightly in the lead.
The result showed Poroshenko, a 49-year-old confectionery magnate, was now likely to continue working in close tandem with Yatseniuk, with the latter possibly staying on as prime minister to handle sensitive talks with the West on aid for the war-shattered economy.
Though a hawk in dealings with Russia, Yatseniuk is liked in the West for his commitment to deep reforms and astute stewardship of the economy which has been wrecked by the separatist conflict in the eastern regions.
The figures, which roughly confirmed earlier exit polls, put another pro-Europe party from western Ukraine in third place.
Poroshenko said the People's Front was the "main partner" in any parliamentary coalition and talks to form the majority could begin on Monday. He wanted talks to be wrapped up quickly to form Ukraine's "best government".
But a surprise was the strong performance registered by allies of ousted president Viktor Yanukovich. The Opposition Bloc of ex-Fuel Minister Yuriy Boiko was on 9.62 percent, easily enough to put the party into parliament, according to the latest available figures from the count.