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Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yanukovich beat incumbent Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in Sunday's presidential runoff by a small margin, with 98.58 percent of the ballots counted, preliminary official results showed Monday.
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Supporters of Ukrainian opposition leader and presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych react during a rally, in front of Central Election Commission, in Kiev, Ukraine, Monday, Feb. 8, 2010, with flags of the Party of Regions at the background. Yanukovich beat competitor Yulia Tymoshenko in Sunday's presidential runoff by a small margin, with 98 percent of the ballots counted, preliminary official results showed.[Xinhua/AFP Photo]
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Yanukovich gained 48.61 percent of the votes while Tymoshenko took 45.80 percent, according to the results from the Ukraine Central Election Committee.
It's not likely for Tymoshenko to catch up with Yanukovich as ballot counting draws to an end. If elected, Yanukovich will become the country's fourth president since it gained independence in 1991.
Alexander Torshin, head of the observer mission of the Commonwealth of Independent States Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, told reporters on Monday that the election was largely consistent with democratic norms.
Joao Soares, head of the observation mission from the OSCE (the Organization for Security and Co-operation), said that the vote was an impressive display of democratic elections.
The election results are also recognized by other monitoring missions, including those from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and NATO's Parliamentary Assembly.
Tymoshenko has hinted that she would stage a replay of the Orange Revolution if the election was found to have been rigged in favor of Yanukovich. She is yet to make a statement.
Thousands of Yanukovich supporters began taking to the streets on Monday morning to celebrate victory.
Ukrainian Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Savchenko said on Monday that there has been no threat to public order and large-scale unrest is unlikely at the moment, the Interfax reported.
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