By ReutersKIEV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych's party is on course to secure a parliamentary majority after an election, but will face an opposition boosted by resurgent nationalists and a liberal party led by boxing champion Vitaly Klitschko.
Exit polls and first results from Sunday's vote showed Yanukovych's Party of the Regions would, with help from long-time allies, win more than half the seats in the 450-member assembly after boosting public sector wages and welfare handouts to win over disillusioned voters in its traditional power bases.
"It is clear the Party of the Regions has won," Prime Minister Mykola Azarov told reporters. "These elections signal confidence in the president's policies."
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