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Yanukovych resigns

Viktor Yushchenko who soundly won Sunday's presidential revote, left, and visiting Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili greet the crowd in Independence square in Ukraine's capital Kiev on the occasion of the New Year celebration. Yushchenko's daughters are seen in the foreground. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Mara D. Bellaby Associated Press
Viktor Yushchenko who soundly won Sunday's presidential revote, left, and visiting Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili greet the crowd in Independence square in Ukraine's capital Kiev on the occasion of the New Year celebration. Yushchenko's daughters are seen in the foreground. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

KIEV, Ukraine – Viktor Yanukovych announced his resignation as prime minister on Friday, handing Ukraine’s pro-Western opposition a symbolic victory, but he vowed to continue his court battle for the presidency of this ex-Soviet republic.

Meanwhile, Viktor Yushchenko, the winner of last week’s repeat presidential election, and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili welcomed the New Year side by side on Kiev’s Independence Square, the epicenter of mass protests that overturned the political order in this nation of 48 million.

The joint appearance of two politicians who have openly and actively courted the West was certain to further irk the Kremlin, which had strongly supported Yanukovych.

Yushchenko soundly won the court-ordered presidential revote on Sunday, but Yanukovych has refused to recognize the results and said he would challenge them in the Supreme Court. Under Ukrainian law, Yushchenko cannot be declared president until all appeals are exhausted.

Yanukovych’s resignation during a New Year’s Eve address to the nation was his first significant concession since the election.

“We are still fighting, but I don’t have much hope,” Yanukovych said. “I will act as an independent politician, as the rightful winner of the legitimate Nov. 21 election.”

Yanukovych claimed victory in that runoff vote, but hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians flooded Kiev’s streets to protest massive fraud. After weeks of protests dubbed the “Orange Revolution” because of Yushchenko’s campaign color, the court ruled that the election was corrupted, annulled Yanukovych’s victory and ordered Sunday’s revote.

Outgoing President Leonid Kuchma didn’t mention Yanukovych’s resignation in his televised New Year’s address but said “in 2005, there will be a new president. Every region and every citizen of Ukraine must accept this democratic choice as their own because this person will need your support.”

Yanukovych has seen much of his support fall away since, losing the backing of Kuchma and watching as many of his top advisers desert him. Parliament passed a vote of no-confidence in his government on Dec. 1, but he ignored it, calling it illegal.

The resignation would immediately trigger the dissolution of the entire 20-member Cabinet. According to the constitution, Kuchma must formally accept Yanukovych’s resignation and appoint a new government within 60 days – though he is likely to appoint a caretaker until a new president is inaugurated.

Yuriy Kliuchkovskiy, a lawmaker and Yushchenko’s ally, called Yanukovych’s decision an acknowledgment that his position is “hopeless.”

“There is his pride. He didn’t want to submit his resignation documents to newly elected President Yushchenko, he decided to submit them to President Kuchma,” he said.