 Thousands of Ukrainians Refuse to Accept Election
Results
By C. J. CHIVERS Published: November 23, 2004
KIEV, Ukraine, Nov. 23 - Mass demonstrations
against the preliminary count of the presidential election in Ukraine expanded
today in the capital, as the opposition candidate and official loser, Viktor A.
Yushchenko, declared himself the winner and tried without success to force the
Parliament to invalidate the official
results.
Advertisement Mr. Yushchenko's supporters swarmed through the
streets, staging simultaneous and highly organized rallies at both Independence
Square and at the entrance to the Supreme Rada, Ukraine's 450-seat
Parliament.
Their numbers were visibly larger than the day
before, when tens of thousands of demonstrators chanted slogans against the
government; newly arrived demonstrators said they had come to the capital from
outlying regions to support the opposition at a critical time.
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