Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko is calling for an "all-Ukrainian political strike'' to protest the declaration of Moscow-backed candidate Viktor Yanukovych as the winner of last weekend's presidential runoff election

Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko is calling for an "all-Ukrainian political strike'' to protest the declaration of Moscow-backed candidate Viktor Yanukovych as the winner of last weekend's presidential runoff election. Amid a sea of cheers and boos, the commission said Wednesday that Yanukovych is the winner because he earned 49.46 per cent of the vote and Yushchenko 46.61 per cent. There had been pleas from all over the world asking the election commission to refrain from announcing a winner until a transparent investigation into the election could be conducted. But those pleas were ignored. "With this decision, they want to put us on our knees,'' Yushchenko told cheering supporters who massed for a fourth straight night in central Kyiv's Independence Square. The supporters responded with chants of "Shame! Shame!'' and "We will not give up.'' With the call for strikes, the tension between the government and the opposition has hit a new and potentially dangerous level. Outraged protesters supporting Yuschenko will not back down, and there is no clear end to the standoff in sight. Outside the presidential administration building, the site of a tense standoff with riot police Tuesday night, well over 1,000 police officers with helmets and shields have gathered eight deep outside the building.