Ukraine boxer Klitschko drops out of presidential race
Source: AFP
Kiev (AFP) - Ukraine's boxer turned opposition leader Vitali Klitschko said on Saturday he had decided against contesting snap presidential elections in May and would instead back the candidacy of businessman Petro Poroshenko.
"We have to nominate a single candidate representing the democratic forces," Klitschko told a congress of his UDAR (Punch) party. "This has to be a candidate who enjoys the strongest public support. Today, this candidate in my opinion is Petro Poroshenko."
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Klitschko was viewed as the most potent political threat to Yanukovych at the height of the protests and enjoyed the support of more than 20 percent of potential voters in late December.
But an opinion poll published by four respected Ukrainian research firms this week put him second in the presidential ratings with the less than nine percent of the vote.
Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-boxer-klitschko-drops-presidential-race-112647883.html;_ylt=AwrBJR4LrzZTiTQAAWXQtDMD
= new reply since forum marked as read
.... the crazy gas queen, the chocolate oligarch, and the nazi. Wonderful! 
-They fight filthy in politics, there are no illegal punches. It's safer for you in boxing.
Kiev (AFP) - As Ukraine battles to stave off dark forces of its own, iconic movie villain Darth Vader announced he was running for president in a bid to restore all glory to the downtrodden nation.
The Sith Lord, or at least an unnamed protester dressed up as him who has often been seen on Kiev's Independence Square during the winter protests flanked by his loyal Stormtroopers, has been chosen as the official candidate of the Ukrainian Internet Party (UIP) which has become known for its theatrical public stunts.
"After winning intra-party primaries by a landslide, comrade Vader will be our party's candidate," said UIP leader Dmitry Golubov, who spent time in prison after being convicted of using the internet to run a credit card fraud scheme.
Encased in black armour, with a black mask and cape, the party's "Darth Vader" has been involved in several political actions in the country.
http://news.yahoo.com/darth-vader-runs-president-ukraine-172730691.html;_ylt=AwrBEiI5FjdTmB8Aq0bQtDMD
Darth actually has a chance at winning this thing. 
Kiev (AFP) - Darth Vader's run for president of Ukraine ended ingloriously Thursday when election officials said the man posing as the iconic movie villain might actually be an electrician named Viktor Shevchenko.
A man dressed up as the dark force in the Star War movies had showed up at the Kiev presidential election registration office Saturday and showed a passport with the name Darth Vader printed in Ukrainian.
It took 15 election officials nearly a week to figure out that the man in the black plastic costume was actually a Kiev native who was born in 1956 and now worked as an electrician at the National University of Food Technologies.
While his passport carried the name Darth Vader, tax documents and just about every other place the election officials looked identified him as Viktor Shevchenko.
http://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-dashes-darth-vaders-presidential-hopes-182428106.html
