KIEV — Ukraine’s opposition parties on Tuesday pressed for a recount of votes in more than a dozen districts in a disputed parliamentary vote, but they appeared unable to mobilize mass protests to step up pressure on authorities.

Western observers described the Oct. 28 parliamentary election as unfair, saying the imprisonment of President Viktor Yanukovych’s arch-foe, former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, and nontransparent vote tallying were steps back for democracy. The opposition accuses the authorities of falsifying election results in 13 districts across the country, where they believe their candidates had won, in order to secure a firm parliamentary majority for Yanukovych’s loyalists.