[JURIST] The Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine on Wednesday delayed an official declaration of victory for the recent presidential elections pending a suit filed by election runner-up Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Tymoshenko alleges widespread voter fraud allowed Viktor Yanukovych to win the election 49 percent to 45 percent. Tymoshenko filed her suit on Tuesday after the Ukrainian Central Election Committee rejected a fraud appeal. The court has scheduled the hearing on Tymoshenko’s suit for February 19.
Tymoshenko has been a controversial figure in Ukrainian politics during her two terms as prime minister. In March 2009, she called for constitutional changes to provide more separation between parliamentary and presidential powers. In October 2008, Tymoshenko withdrew a lawsuit she had brought against Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko after he suspended a plan to hold early elections following the collapse of the country’s coalition government. Before suspending the plan, Yushchenko had issued a decree abolishing a Kiev court after it tried to block his order dissolving parliament.