Protests against governement restrictions due to H1N1 have been held [AFP]

Writing on the website Ukrainska Pravada on Friday, Igor Popov, the deputy head of President Viktor Yushchenko's secretariat, said that an emergency might be declared and the poll moved from January 17 to May 30 next year.

Popov accused Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's government of not being prepared for the H1N1 outbreak, which so far has claimed at least 86 lives and infected about 250,000 people.

Former allies Yushchenko and Tymoshenko have been at bitter odds over the past 18 months and are rivals for the presidency.

"We hope that the government is able to manage the epidemic without a state of emergency," Popov wrote.

However, he questioned what effect a ban on public gatherings will have on the fairness of the poll, with political gatherings also being prohibited.

"With more than two months to voting, it is completely possible to overcome the first wave of the [H1N1] flu and avoid another wave," he said.

"But should there be a state of emergency, the election would have to be delayed," he wrote, also proposing the May 30 date as a suitable alternative.

A total of 16 candidates are registered to run in the poll, the first since the Orange Revolution in 2004, in which Yushchenko and Tymoshenko together brought a pro-Western government to power.

Viktor Yanukovich, who proposes closer ties with Russia, is currently leading pre-election polls.

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