KIEV, Ukraine - An exit poll says opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych has been elected Ukraine’s next president, steering the country away from the pro-Western course set by the 2004 Orange Revolution.

The National Election Poll predicted that the Russia-leaning Yanukovych would finish first in Sunday’s runoff ballot, 48.7 per cent to 45.5 per cent, with most others votes for the “Against all” category.



Tymoshenko, whose impassioned leadership of the 2004 Orange protests made her an international celebrity, has vowed to challenge a vote she claims was rigged.

Hamilton Centre MP David Christopherson was one of four Canadian MPs in the Ukraine as an observer for the runoff election.

Christopherson was an observer at the first vote on Jan. 17 that saw President Viktor Yushchenko, the Orange Revolution leader, finish third and drop off the ballot. The runoff vote is being held because the two remaining candidates did not secure more than 50 per cent of the vote.

-With files from The Hamilton Spectator