Supporters of Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich attend an election rally in Donetsk, September 28, 2007. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    KIEV, Oct.2 (Xinhua) -- With 96 percent of the votes counted by late Tuesday, Ukrainian Prime Minister Victor Yanucovych's party maintained its narrow lead over all the other major contenders.

    The prime minister's Regions Party got 34.1 percent of the vote, slightly higher than Yulia Tymoshenko's bloc, which won 30.9 percent of the vote, the country's Central Election Commission said.

    The Our Ukraine party, which supports President Victor Yushchenko and posed to form a coalition with Tymoshenko's bloc, got 14.3 percent of the votes.

    Tymoshenko and Yushenko's parties have declared themselves the winners of Sunday's vote and put forward plans for forming a new government, while Yanucovych has also claimed victory.

    The counting process has been slow and the gap between the two sides is narrow, making it hard to predict who will finally win the right to form a government, political analysts said.

    The Regions Party of Yanucovych surged past Tymoshenko's bloc with 80 percent of the vote counted on Monday.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych greets his supporters during a rally in Kiev, Monday, Oct. 1, 2007. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko greets people outside a polling station in Ukrainian city of Dnepropetrovsk. (AFP File Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko accompanied by his wife (L) and daughter, casts his ballot in a polling station in Kiev. (AFP File Photo) Photo Gallery>>>