Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is vowing to send her followers into the streets if she loses Sunday’s presidential runoff vote, something analysts say seems increasingly likely.
Ms. Tymoshenko has said she will use “all means” including mass protests to battle what she calls plans by opponent Viktor Yanukovych to falsify the vote.
On Thursday she said she was prepared to reprise the Orange Revolution protests of 2004, which rallied hundreds of thousands and led to a court-ordered rerun of a rigged presidential election.
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Analysts, however, say the chances for prolonged mass protests appear slim and that Ms. Tymoshenko’s chances of beating Mr. Yanukovych are dwindling.
Monitors praised the first round of presidential voting on January 17, unlike the tainted 2004 presidential vote.