Tymoshenko drops court appeals over election results

Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko withdrew her appeal against the election results with Ukraine’s High Administrative Court on Saturday, in a surprise move. The runner up in the February 7 runoff vote said she made the decision because the court refused to admit as evidence original election documents and to hear several witnesses. Tymoshenko later said she was not planning to take the case to Ukraine’s Supreme Court. Brad Wells: The dropping of Tymoshenko’s appeals removes the last major obstacle to Yanukovych’s inauguration, which is set for Thursday, February 25. President Viktor Yushchenko officially congratulated Yanukovych on his victory on Friday and ordered preparations to begin for inauguration.