International monitors Feb. 8 hailed Ukraine's presidential election as transparent and honest, bolstering opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych's claim of victory and leaving Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in a strategic bind.

Tymoshenko, who was the charismatic catalyst of the 2004 Orange Revolution mass protests, had said she would call supporters into the streets if she deemed the Feb. 7 election fraudulent. But although she has signaled she will challenge the outcome in the courts, she issued no protest call Feb. 8 and can eled two planned news conferences as she apparently weighed her options.

International observers' criticism of the 2004 presidential election lent significant weight to the Orange protests, which ended with a court-ordered revote in which Yanukovych was defeated by Viktor Yushchenko. This time, the observers' imprimatur could undermine any call for protest.

A Yanukovych victory would close a chapter in the country's political history by ousting the pro-Western leadership of the past five years, which foundered due to internal divisions, fierce opposition from Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine and the collapse of the economy.

As president, Yanukovych would try to balance relations with Moscow against Europe, tilting to Moscow where his Orange Revolution predecessors tilted West. But his narrow mandate, Ukraine's deeply divided society and moribund economy will limit his ability to implement desperately needed political reforms.