Nov. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko led more than 1 million protesters to parliament, threatening to storm government buildings unless lawmakers annul results that show he lost the election to the prime minister.

The parliament debated canceling official results that led to Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych's victory in Sunday's vote. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the U.S., the U.K. and Germany said the ballot counting was flawed as central Kiev was overrun by demonstrators in a sea of orange banners shouting Yushchenko's name.

``There is a possible threat of clashes,'' Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn said in a broadcast today on giant screens outside Parliament and on Kiev's Independence Square. ``Lawmakers should look at what is going on in the nation.''

The future of the former Soviet republic, sandwiched between the European Union and Russia, is in the balance 13 years after it declared independence, with Yushchenko advocating a free-market economy and closer links to the EU and Yanukovych urging the country to foster deeper ties with Russia.

Ukraine's First Securities Trading System, the main stock market, was halted for a second day as brokers and investors await the outcome of the protests, PFTS spokeswoman Anna Pogorina said. ``The situation with price instability worsened,'' she said.

Falling Bonds

Ukraine's benchmark 2013 government dollar bond fell for a third day. The price dropped to 103.75 percent from 104.35 yesterday, pushing its yield up to 7.057 percent from 6.965 yesterday, according to Bloomberg data.

Yanukovych, a former governor of Donetsk, an eastern Ukrainian region that is an enclave for ethnic Russians, already received congratulations from Russian President Vladimir Putin for his electoral win.

Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, who hand-picked Yanukovych as his replacement after he steps down from 10 years in office, has been accused by the opposition of corruption, violating human rights and ignoring democratic principles.

Yanukovych, in a televised address, criticized opposition politicians for protesting the election and said a ``small group of radicals'' aimed to split Ukraine, Russia's Interfax news agency reported from Kiev.

TV Stations

One television station, Novy Kanal, went off the air, while others allowed broadcasters to wear orange armbands during news programming. It was not clear if Novy Kanal went black in protest. The OSCE said after the Oct. 31 first round of presidential elections that television programming was skewed toward Yanukovych.

``There are well-founded doubts about the official results,'' said German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer in a statement today. ``The political will of the Ukrainian people has to be reflected in the election result. We call upon the Ukrainian government to review, together with the OSCE, both the electoral process and the count to make the necessary corrections.''

The Central Electoral Commission yesterday said Yanukovych won 49.4 percent of the vote in the Nov. 21 presidential run-off election. Yushchenko had 46.7 percent, the commission said. Exit polls released right after polls closed showed Yushchenko garnering 54 percent.

``We take it in a very serious way,'' said Jean Lemierre, the president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which has about 1.5 billion euros ($1.95 billion) invested in Ukraine. ``We are watching the situation very closely with our shareholders.''

Demonstrators' Demands

Opposition protesters began filling Kiev's Independence Square for a second day this morning and demanded lawmakers throw out the commission's official results and disband the commission. City councils in at least five central and western cities, including Kiev, voted to recognize Yushchenko as president.

Yushchenko supporters blocked traffic along Khreshchatyk, Kiev's main street, using human chains and set up more than 100 tents along the road. People from across the country joined the protest. Tents were decorated with slogans and names of the cities where the tents' residents come from.

``The fraud is obvious,'' said 19-year Lina Kokutsa, one of 500,000 who gathered on Independence Square in the morning. ``I'm just starting to live and I want to live in a European country.''

The crowd swelled to more than 1 million as Yushchenko began leading supporters to the Parliament building, according to Oleksandr Moroz, a leader of the Socialist Party.

Election Threats

``These elections were not free,'' said Peter Novotny, the head of the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations, which had 1,000 observers across the country. ``Direct assault, threats to voters and attacks on voting places, such as bomb assaults, were recorded by our observers.''

The demonstrators marched along streets lined with trees festooned with ribbons of orange, Yushchenko's campaign color. Organizers predicted the number of protesters may double by the evening.

Yulia Timoshenko, a former government minister and an ally of Yushchenko, initially said the protesters would storm Kuchma's administration offices and other government buildings at 3 p.m. unless their demands were met.

The parliamentary session, though, was held up because there were not enough lawmakers to begin in the morning and organizers said they were willing to hold off on any further action until they see how lawmakers vote. A resolution rejecting the vote would need approval by 226 legislators in the 450-member parliament.

``It looks like today we are very close to a decision,'' Yushchenko said, as the crowds waved Ukrainian flags and orange banners. Many also donned orange armbands and scarves. ``We are talking about freedom and equal process. Today it will be a day of action.''

The demonstration remained peaceful, with protesters flashing police officers the victory sign as they passed the Cabinet building. Some officers smiled back at the protesters and indicated support with hand signals.

To contact the reporters on this story: Halia Pavliva in Kiev at hpavliva@bloomberg.net Paul Tighe in Sydney at ptighe@Bloomberg,net.

Last Updated: November 23, 2004 10:16 EST