MOSCOW, August 15 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine's election authorities have registered the opposition Yulia Tymoshenko bloc for early parliamentary elections, approving it by a unanimous 14-0 vote.
There are 450 candidates on the Tymoshenko bloc's list.
Last Friday, the Central Electoral Commission failed to meet a three-day deadline for registering Tymoshenko bloc members, citing non-compliance with election laws. The bloc's candidates purportedly failed to provide their addresses, among other things.
Election day, September 30, was agreed upon in early June as part of a deal between the Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and his arch-rival Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, amid a crisis that broke out after the president accused the premier-controlled majority coalition of usurping power in early April, and ordered the legislature's dissolution.
The election campaign officially kicked off August 2, 60 days before election day.
Tymoshenko, a former prime minister, earlier accused parliamentary coalition parties of colluding to cut out her bloc and stop it from running. Faction supporters started converging Saturday in front of the CEC building.
The president asked the election authorities to reconsider registering Tymoshenko's faction for the campaign.
Members of parliamentary majority parties returned the allegation, saying the Tymoshenko bloc had been exerting pressure on CEC officials.
According to opinion polls, the bloc led by Tymoshenko, Yushchenko's outspoken ally in the 2004 "orange revolution" that swept him to power and which has consistently opposed the incumbent prime minister, is the third most popular political faction in Ukraine, backed by 11.6%-14.3% of the electorate.
