Poroshenko’s Party Claims Ukraine Election Victory

The party of Ukrainian President, Petro Poroshenko, claimed victory on Wednesday in parliamentary elections held at the weekend.

Volodymyr Groysman, a leader of the Poroshenko Bloc, said in Kiev, that his party was the leader as it had shown supremacy at the elections.

“We are the leaders with the support of the absolute majority of Ukrainians,” he said.

Groysman, who was also a deputy prime minister, said that Poroshenko’s party was leading both in party lists and in first-past-the-post voting.

He said the summary distance to the second-placed People’s Front party was one million votes.

The election commission data published on Wednesday indicated that the Poroshenko Bloc would get 133 seats, while the People’s Front could expect just 81.
Meanwhile, leaders of the pro-Russian separatists said that they were preparing for war.

Alexander Zakharchenko, the leader of the self-declared “Donetsk People’s Republic” accused the Ukrainian government of having backed away from a ceasefire agreement.

“Ukraine declared that it has withdrawn its signature, we are preparing for war,” he said.

Security Council Spokesman Andriy Lysenko denied having ever signed such an agreement.

“You cannot renounce something that never existed,” he said.

Lysenko also warned voters not to participate in the elections in the separatist-held districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

“This can be life threatening, explaining that means possible provocations and terrorist attacks in polling stations,” he said.

Kiev and the West argue that the election on Sunday was illegitimate.

Photo Credit: AP