Yushchenko signs disputed change in Ukraine election law ahead of Sunday’s presidential vote

President signs law altering Ukraine voting rules

KIEV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s president has signed a law that his former Orange Revolution ally warned would open the door to falsification of Sunday’s presidential election.

President Viktor Yushchenko signed a bill Thursday that eliminates a requirement that representatives of both candidates supervise vote-counting at polling stations.

Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko appealed to Yushchenko earlier Thursday not to sign the bill, adopted by parliament a day earlier. She said the revised law would mark “the end of fair elections in Ukraine” and allow her opponent Viktor Yanukovych to rig the vote.

Yanukovych called Tymoshenko’s allegations a sign of weakness and accused her of using “dirt, lies and slander.”

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko vowed Thursday to send her followers to the streets if her opponent steals this weekend’s presidential vote in Ukraine, raising the threat of indefinite political turbulence in this former Soviet nation.

“We will rally the people” a grim Tymoshenko told reporters, pledging to use “all means” to ensure a fair election, including mass protests.

Accusing opponent Viktor Yanukovych of preparing to steal Sunday’s election, she said: “Don’t let him rape democracy.”

Five years ago, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians clogged the streets of Kiev for weeks to protest a rigged election and demand economic and political reform, in what came to be called the Orange Revolution. Yanukovych had been counted as winning that vote, but the Supreme Court ordered a rerun, which was won by Viktor Yushchenko.

Yushchenko’s term was marked by squabbling with Tymoshenko and long power battles with the Yanukovych-led opposition. Yushchenko got only about 5 percent of the vote in the Jan. 17 first round of presidential voting.

Analysts say the chances for prolonged mass protests among the disillusioned population are slim.

“A repeat of the 2004 events is impossible,” said Vladimir Fesenko, head of Ukraine’s Penta Center for Applied Political Research. “The only people that will take part in street protests will be hired hands and a small number of supporters.”

Meanwhile, Tymoshenko’s political position appears to be rapidly deteriorating as she skirmishes with Yanukovych for control of key institutions that could affect the outcome of the ballot.

On Wednesday, parliament repealed the requirement that representatives of both candidates certify the vote at polling stations, a move that Tymoshenko said laid the groundwork for large-scale fraud.

Yanukovych’s Party of Regions insists that the work of election commissions will not be impeded if all members are in attendance. Yanukovych has warned that Tymoshenko may try to disrupt the ballot-counting process by withdrawing her representatives from local election boards if, as he expects, she is defeated.

“With every day that passes, Tymoshenko is letting the initiative slip out of her hands,” said Vadim Karasev, director of the Institute of Global Strategies. “Tymoshenko is behaving like a loser.”

Fesenko said the Party of Regions has taken control of the institutions that will prove key in giving an official seal of approval of the vote.

“Yanukovych has created the infrastructure for victory, having gained control over the Central Election Commission, key courts and destroyed the Orange majority in parliament,” he said.

Tymoshenko said Wednesday that her representatives at four local election boards have already been forced to resign.

“The law was only passed today, and already they have begun to throw our representatives out of district and precinct election commissions,” she told the private 1+1 television channel.

Yushchenko has not yet signed the law and she appealed to him not to do so.

“We appeal to President Yushchenko and remind him that this is what we fought against in 2004,” Tymoshenko said.

Yushchenko has called on his supporters to vote for “against all,” an option on the Ukrainian ballot.

Karasev agreed that Wednesday’s law would only tighten Yanukovych’s grip on electoral institutions.

“The situation taking shape is the worst possible scenario for Tymoshenko,” he said. “The Orange coalition has been destroyed.”

Associated Press Writer Douglas Birch contributed to this report.