KIEV, Ukraine, Dec. 6 -- Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, the presidential candidate whose declared victory was stripped from him by a Supreme Court order, appeared in public Monday and said he would run in a repeat runoff election against rival Viktor Yushchenko on Dec. 26.
Yanukovych's appearance at his campaign headquarters ended speculation that he might drop out of the race. Since the first runoff vote on Nov. 21, he had virtually ceded the public eye to Yushchenko, who drew hordes of supporters into the streets, challenged the results of the ballot and won a the court verdict that the election was riddled with violations and therefore invalid.
Yanukovych will "continue to battle," he says.
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"I have a choice to withdraw or to fight. My decision is to continue to battle because behind me are millions of people," the embattled prime minister told a small group of aides and reporters in a nearly empty auditorium.
The crisis that erupted after the vote has gradually eased and been replaced by preparations for renewed electioneering. Yushchenko, a former prime minister and central bank chief, is taking applications from demonstrators to become campaign workers.
He has yet to call off the occupation of Kiev's Independence Square and blockades of several government buildings, but the number of protesters has been declining since Friday, the day the Supreme Court issued its ruling. The demonstrations are likely to end within a day or two, Yushchenko supporters said.
[In a separate development, Ukraine's political rivals agreed early Tuesday on legislation to ensure a fair vote during the repeat runoff election, according to the Associated Press. The sides remained divided on constitutional amendments that would reduce the power of the presidency. Yushchenko has resisted the transfer of responsibilities to the office of the prime minister.]
It was unclear whether President Leonid Kuchma, who backed Yanukovych as his successor, would agree to fire Yanukovych and his cabinet, as demanded by parliament. Kuchma did say, however, that he would dismiss the Central Elections Commission that oversaw the invalidated runoff and sign into law bans on absentee balloting and voting at home.
In another sign that tensions were subsiding on Monday, Kuchma's spokeswoman, Olena Hromnytska, quoted the president as saying that the high court decision should be honored. Kuchma said during a cabinet meeting that he would sign electoral reform laws if they were presented to him in a package along with the legislation for the reduction of presidential powers.
A further signal of accommodation came from President Vladimir Putin of Russia, who had campaigned openly for Yanukovych and as late as Thursday had opposed another round of voting. During a visit to Turkey on Monday, he said he would accept "the wishes of any nation in the post-Soviet territory and will work with any elected leader."
Putin went on to chastise pro-Yushchenko demonstrators, however, saying the seizure of power through street pressure was unacceptable.
A spokeswoman for Yanukovych, Anna Herman, said the prime minister was trying to distance himself from Kuchma, his patron. Herman said that Kuchma had pressured Yanukovych to give up the race but that he had refused. "He was under lots of pressures, including from the president," she said in an interview. "We can finally shout out that Yanukovych does not represent the old authorities."
Yanukovych, a former Soviet factory manager, named a new campaign manager, Taras Chornovil, whose last name is dear to many Ukrainians. His father, Viacheslav, was a leader of Ukrainian dissidents in the 1960s and 1970s, when Ukraine was a Soviet republic. Taras Chornovil has accused Kuchma of arranging the 1999 car crash that took his father's life.
The prime minister also said he was taking leave from his job and asked Kuchma to leave the cabinet in place. Herman said Yanukovych was doing this in an effort to counter opposition charges that he had been exploiting his position to promote his campaign.
To fully change his image, Yanukovych must convince voters that he has suddenly broken with Kuchma, who represents both authoritarianism and corruption to many Ukrainians. Yanukovych's campaign is dogged by images of burly, black-clad aides who accompany him on the campaign trail.
At his mostly empty headquarters Monday, a few flag-waving supporters held a vigil outside and menacingly queried foreign television crew members whether they was supporting Yushchenko. There was none of the festive atmosphere that characterizes Yushchenko's self-styled "orange revolution," a reference to his campaign color.
The occupation of Independence Square has been enlivened by round-the-clock rock concerts and fireworks displays.
Herman said now that Yanukovych has distanced himself from Kuchma, his campaign will be able to shift gear. He "is his own man. . . . Our hands are untied," she said.
