KIEV, Ukraine, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Jailed Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko issued a statement saying it was "impossible" to say weekend parliamentary elections were fair.
The ruling Party of Regions of President Viktor Yanukovych retained its leadership position by securing around 30 percent of the vote in weekend elections. The Fatherland opposition party, led by Tymoshenko, a former prime minister, took second.
Her party, reports Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, said voter lists were falsified in dozens of districts. In a statement posted on her website, Tymoshenko said that describing weekend elections as fair was an insult to the Ukrainian people.
"It is impossible to say the elections were fair and legitimate at the time when every Ukrainian citizen knows that money and food packages were offered (to secure votes)," her statement read.
Tymoshenko is serving a seven-year prison sentence after being convicted on corruption charges tied to a deal she helped secure with Russian energy company Gazporm while she was prime minister. Her supporters say the charges were politically motivated.
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said, in a statement, there were "several shortcomings (in the election), including the lack of a level playing field and that certain aspects of the pre-election period constituted a step backward compared with recent elections."
