Viktor Yanukovych completes his metamorphosis

Viktor Yanukovych, the ursine eastern Ukrainian party boss who suffered a humiliating defeat five years ago, has triumphed in a presidential election on Sunday that was surprising not so much for its outcome as for its cleanliness. After a brutal and bruising campaign during which both sides hurled accusations of corruption, incompetence and outright lying at each other, Yanukovych held a slim margin over his challenger, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, 48.8 percent to 45.6. (Some 4.3 percent of voters exercised a purely Ukrainian option and voted "against everyone.") It marked a breathtaking comeback — as well as a metamorphosis — for a man who it seemed would be forever labeled as the loser of the Orange Revolution.