(28 Oct 2012)
1. Mid of Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov entering news conference
2. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Mykola Azarov, Prime Minister of Ukraine:
"Results of the exit polls say it all. Of course the vote counting is ahead and the results will be corrected but it is evident that the Party of Regions has won. Of course there are some to whom it is not evident, they wanted us to lose very much, but we have won."
3. Wide of Azarov at news conference
++NIGHT SHOTS++
4. Various of supporters of the Party of Regions celebrating victory at concert and waving flags
5. Close of flags
6. Mid of news conference for the United Opposition
7. Mid of opposition leaders Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Alexander Turchinov at microphones
8. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Opposition leader:
"Our (United Opposition) total vote is 50 percent more than the Party of Region's. Concerning the party of Klitschko, I want to congratulate him for apparently becoming a member of Parliament. It is a positive sign for him - Klitschko's party has gained more votes than the party of Svoboda (right wing national movement)."
9. Mid of Areseniy Yatsenuyk and Alexander Turchinov
STORYLINE:
Exit polls on Sunday night showed the ruling Party of Regions ahead in the Ukrainian parliamentary elections, but the combined voting share of the opposition parties is greater overall.
The Fatherland party, led by the jailed charismatic former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the Udar (Punch) of world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko and a nationalist party together received more than 50 percent of the vote on party lists, outnumbering Yanukovych's Party of Regions and its traditional ally, the Communist Party.
Both Yanukovych's and Tymoshenko's parties claimed victory, saying the election showed the voters trust them to lead the country.
As it stands, the predicted results mean that although Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov's party may win the election, the united opposition parties will have the majority of seats in the new parliament.
Speaking at a news conference Azarov said it was "evident that the Party of Regions has won" following the exit polls.
"Of course there are some to whom it is not evident, they wanted very much us to lose, but we have won," he said in reference to the oppositions strong showing in the party list vote.
However, only half of the parliament's 450 seats are split proportionately between the winning parties.
The other half is filled by the winners of single-mandate races, where Yanukovych loyalists are expected to make a strong showing.
In the election, each voter had two ballots, one with party names and one with the name of candidates in specific constituencies. No exit poll numbers were available for the individual races.
One of the Fatherland Party's leaders Arseniy Yatsenyuk said the combined total of the opposition's votes was 50 percent higher than the votes given to the Party of Regions.
He congratulated Klitschko on becoming a parliamentarian.
"It is a positive sign for him," he said. "Klitschko's party has gained more votes than the party of Svoboda (right wing national movement)."
The strong showing by the far-right Svoboda (Freedom) party, which took 12.3 percent of the vote according to exit polls, emerged as a surprise and showed the widespread disappointment and anger with the ruling party.
Svoboda campaigns for the defence of the Ukrainian language and culture, but is also infamous for xenophobic and anti-Semitic rhetoric.
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