Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych on Monday called on his opponent and longtime rival, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, to concede defeat in Sunday's presidential runoff after he secured a slim victory at the polls.
With more than 98 percent of the ballots counted as of Monday evening, Yanukovych had captured 48.5 percent of the vote, with Tymoshenko garnering 45.9 percent, according to Ukraine's Central Election Commission.
Tymoshenko and her supporters had previously said they were prepared to challenge the results in court. Her campaign said Monday morning that results from Yanukovych's Russian-speaking strongholds in southern and eastern Ukraine were distorted because of mass falsifications, and that they were "ready to do everything possible" to ensure a fair election.
Tymoshenko herself, however, gave no indication of her immediate plans Monday, postponing a scheduled press conference until Tuesday.
Western election observers, meanwhile, praised the poll and suggested that Tymoshenko should concede.
"Yesterday's vote was an impressive display of democratic elections. For everyone in Ukraine, this election was a victory. It is now time for the country's political leaders to listen to the people's verdict and make sure that the transition of power is peaceful and constructive," Joao Soares, president of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and head of a group of OSCE observers, said in a statement.
The election capped a remarkable political comeback for Yanukovych, a pro-Russian candidate who won the 2004 presidential elections in a fraud-tainted vote that was overturned amid mass protests in the Orange Revolution. After weeks of demonstrations led by Tymoshenko and outgoing President Viktor Yushchenko, the Supreme Court threw out the results and ordered a new election that Yushchenko went on to win.
Thousands of Yanukovych's supporters gathered Monday in Kiev to defend the results of the election, chanting, "Yanukovych is our president."
Turnout in Sunday's election was 69.07 percent. More than 4 percent of voters cast their ballots for the "Against All" option.
Verkhovna Rada Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn told reporters Monday that a scenario similar to the 2004 mass protests is unlikely to play out, but that numerous lawsuits from Tymoshenko and her supporters should be expected.
Political analysts say Tymoshenko and her supporters will likely have to change their strategy and leverage the support she got from almost half the country to extract as many political concessions from Yanukovych as possible.
Anton Finko, a political analyst with the Kiev Center of Political and Conflict Studies, said Tymoshenko now faces two options: to compromise with Yanukovych or move to the opposition.
"Tymoshenko will try to preserve her post as the prime minister," Finko said. "And the Party of the Regions [led by Yanukovych] will try to challenge her."
Neither President Dmitry Medvedev nor Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had spoken out publicly about the Ukraine election as of Monday evening, nor had they publicly backed either candidate in the run-up to the vote.
The new Ukrainian president will have to restore the relations undermined during the presidency of Viktor Yushchenko, which was plagued by disputes over gas supplies and Yushchenko's drives to integrate with Western institutions, such as NATO, that angered Moscow.
According to a survey released Monday by state pollster VTsIOM, 44 percent of Russians believe that Russian-Ukrainian relations will improve, but that the two countries will never be as friendly as they once were.
