05/11/2004 00:00
TW
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by MONITOR l WHILE international attention has been on the Presidential contest in the United States, important elections have been taking place in Uruguay and the Ukraine. The result in Uruguay confirmed a recent electoral trend to the Left in South America; Tabare Vazquez and his Frente Amplio won just over the 50 per cent of the votes needed to claim an outright first round victory. It was the third attempt by Sr Vazquez, a former mayor of Montevideo, to gain power; he accomplished it with the help of an alliance involving no fewer than 40 other parties whose stability may be in doubt as Vazquez moves to solve the country's economic crisis which has left one in three Uruguayans living below the poverty line. Congratulatory telegrams poured into Montevideo from Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Venezuela from other left-wing governments.

The presidential election in the Ukraine had a less clear-cut outcome. In a contest between the Moscow-leaning incumbent Prime Minister, Viktor Yanukovych, and a Western-orientated former prime minister, Viktor Yushchenko, the result was a virtual dead-heat and a runoff will be necessary in three weeks. This was a contest of the kind seen in many former Soviet Union states, being in effect a referendum on whether this nation of 48 million people should continue to look to Moscow and President Putin or break free to develop its contacts with the West. The turnout of 75 per cent of eligible voters indicated the importance of the choice for most citizens. However, observers from the Council of Europe and the European Parliament reported that the elections did not meet standards for democratic elections; whether they will do so for the run off on 21 November is by no means certain.