Ukrainian poll steeped in poison theory
November 25, 2004
Kiev, Ukraine - A mysterious illness that has transformed Viktor Yushchenko from a rugged heartthrob into a gaunt, ageing man continues to haunt the opposition chief.
Yushchenko, aged 50, fell ill in early September just as he developed what at the time seemed like an unassailable lead over his chief rival in Ukraine's presidential election.
His supporters immediately suspected foul play and the opposition camp was swept by dark rumours that their hero had been poisoned by the state.
Press reports noted that Yushchenko fell ill after a meeting with the former head of the KGB, the Soviet agency which used drugs against political foes and foreign spies.
Yushchenko was transferred to an Austrian clinic, where doctors spent weeks conducting a myriad tests.
Eventually they consulted specialists in bio-terrorism, only to conclude that they did not know what was wrong.
A further bizarre sequence followed when the Austrian doctors said they could not exclude that Yushchenko had been poisoned, only for the clinic's director to firmly deny their claims.
The clinic also said an Austrian court had "confiscated" his medical records.
The clinic's head said recently: "From that you can tell that lots of people are speculating about the fact that poison or an act of bio-terrorism might have been the underlying case."
Things were not much clearer in Ukraine itself.
A parliamentary committee charged with examining the allegations concluded there was no proof of a criminal act but said it could not rule out the possibility that he might have been targeted.
Meanwhile, Yushchenko has suffered partial facial paralysis, and when he re-emerged weeks later in Ukraine, the voters gasped at seeing a man who appeared to have aged by at least a decade seemingly overnight.
He looked gaunt and his skin was yellowish, sagging and covered in pockmarks.
His absence from the campaign trail saw pro-Moscow Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, with the state media's help, make up a double-digit gap in opinion polls and pull ahead.
The opposition was fuming but still had no direct proof that the government had slipped their rival a secret and most likely illegal drug.
Meanwhile, Yanukovich's camp needed to divert attention from the poison allegations and came up with a novel strategy of its own: it found the menu of a feast that Yushchenko had just days before falling ill.
The delicacies included an array of sushi and tropical fruits, which state-controlled television stressed could have been spoiled.
The state media also pointed out that Yushchenko reportedly mixed various alcoholic beverages during the meal and in general tried to paint a picture of a glutton.
Yushchenko has only been able to counter that he was confident "certain forces" tried to derail his campaign. - Sapa-AFP
