Ukrainian PM ahead of opposition leader

Viktor Yanukovich is leading in the presidential elections in Ukraine after 84.3 percent of the ballots have been processed, Ukrainian Central Election Commission head Sergey Kivalov said. According to him, the incumbent Prime Minister mustered 41.43 percent of the vote compared to 37.92 percent by opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko. Some 5.72 percent of the voters supported Socialist Party head Alexander Morozov; communist Peter Simonenko received support from 5.06 percent of the voters and Progressive Socialist Party leader Natalia Vitrenko enjoyed the support of 1.5 percent of those who had cast their votes.

According to the latest data, some 75.3 percent of 37.5m people who have the right to vote took part in the presidential election. In the 1999 presidential election, voter turn-out did not exceed 70 percent.