International observers gave Ukraine's parliamentary election a stamp of approval today, while Russia said it hopes the vote will ease tension by ushering in a "constructive" government.
With more than half the votes counted, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk's Popular Front was leading with 21.6 % of the vote while President Petro Poroshenko's party had captured 21.5 %.
A recently formed pro-European party based in westernUkrainecalled Samopomich was running third with around 11 % of the vote.
Negotiations on forming a broad reformist coalition are expected to begin immediately.
Sunday's vote overhauled a parliament once dominated by loyalists of former President Viktor Yanukovych, who sparked months of protests that caused his ouster in February with a decision to deepen ties with Russia instead of the European Union.
Anti-Russian sentiment has spiked inUkraineas the country battles separatists in the east whom many believe are supported by Moscow. Still, the Opposition Bloc, which pundits believe largely drew its support from Yanukovych's once-ruling Party of Regions, put in a strong showing with around one-tenth of the vote.
Poroshenko has laid out an ambitious agenda envisioning significant changes toUkraine'sjustice system, police, tax system, defense sector and health care to be completed by 2020. Among the tougher decisions ahead will be allowing costs of basic utilities in the cash-strapped country to float in line with market demands.
While around 36 million people were registered to vote Sunday, no voting was held on the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in March, or in parts ofUkraine'seasternmost regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, where shelling remains a daily constant.
International observers hailed the vote as a step forward in building democratic standards despite the unrest as the government battles separatists in easternUkraine. Kent Harstedt of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said the ballot offered voters a real choice and showed "respect for fundamental freedoms."
He said voting and counting were transparent, election officials were impartial, and the campaign was competitive.
He also said there were some cases of intimidation and threats and that some media showed a lack of autonomy from political or corporate interests.
The European Union also hailed the parliamentary election in Ukraine as a victory for democracy and pro-European reforms in the ex-Soviet republic.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow hopes the election leads to the formation of a government "that will be constructive, not bent on continuing to escalate confrontation in society and with Russia."
But the conflict in eastern Ukraine has cast a shadow over the elections.
A cease-fire signed in September has ended much of the fighting, but daily violations of the truce in several places continue to cause casualties among government forces, the rebels, and civilians.
More than 3,700 people have been killed in the conflict and hundreds of thousands of others have fled their homes.
Leaders of the pro-Russian insurgents in Donetsk and Luhansk have said they will hold elections to their so-called "people's republics" on November 2 to elect separate parliaments.
Kiev, the United States, and several other countries have said the elections are illegitimate and will not be recognized.
http://www.neurope.eu/article/international-satisfecit-ukraine-elections