By Nikolai Gorshkov In Kiev

Ukrainians are due to go to the polls to elect a new parliament.

Thirty-three parties are contesting the seats in the parliment, known as the Rada, but only a handful will pass the 4% electoral threshold.

The main battle is between the so-called Party of Power, led by the chief of the presidential administration, and an alliance of opposition movements headed by the former prime minister.

The vote is seen as a key test of President Leonid Kuchma's popularity

This election campaign, the third in the 10 years since since independence, has been branded as the dirtiest in Ukraine's history.

Various watchdogs - both domestic and international - have complained about the media bias and a dirty tricks campaign on the part of the authorities.

Prominent candidates were arbitrarily struck off the established electoral lists and the last day before the vote was marred by the killing of a leading candidate in the west of the country. It may be unrelated to the election, but it has certainly raised the tension ahead of it.

An unprecedented 1,000 international monitors are preparing to observe the vote at the polling stations across the country - as are 25,000 local volunteers.

Fears of a possible rigging of the election results are high and there have been reports of missing ballot papers and coercion of voters.

The elections could be a chance for the opposition to instigate reforms

The main opposition grouping, led by the former Prime Minister, Victor Yushchenko, is afraid it will be denied a clear victory that is needed to push through the stalled market reforms.

The pro-presidential parties accuse it of pursuing a western agenda and a personal vendetta against the President, Leonid Kuchma.

Some opposition politicians have vowed to start the impeachment procedure if they muster a majority in the new parliament.

The president is implicated in a series of scandals ranging from the killing of a prominent journalist to an illegal sale of arms to Iraq.

His fight for political survival is being closely watched by the West and Russia, who have been pulling Kiev in different directions. This has created a lot of resentment among the Ukrainian voters, who say they want to be left alone to decide their role in future.