Yushchenko Wins Ukrainian Re-Run Election

Viktor Yushchenko has won the re-played second round of voting in Ukraine’s presidential election. With almost all the votes counted, Mr. Yushchenko has 52% of the vote, while the current Prime Minister, Viktor Yanukovich, has 44%. Despite rather desperate claims by Mr. Yanukovich’s supporters that there were 3 million fraudulent votes cast, observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have said the elections were clean. Now, it gets tricky.

First of all, Mr. Yushchenko has to take the oath of office and get a government set up. Suggestions that he negotiate an accommodation with Mr. Yanukovich are silly. He unstole the election (thanks to the thousands those who still sit in Independence Square, known locally as “Maidan”), and won it fair and square. Mr. Yanukovich has sworn to form an opposition, and his people have vowed legal challenges to the election. That, of course, is their job, and they deserve credit for doing it. Elected presidents must be kept honest.

Second, there is the matter of the security services. The armed forces of Ukraine and the police have proved to be true guardians of the state. Frankly, this journal expected bloodshed within the first week. The outcome has been a delightful surprise. Yet, there is also the question of who poisoned Mr. Yushchenko a few months ago with enough dioxin to choke a horse. Those responsible must be brought to justice without bringing disgrace on those who performed so well in the recent crisis.

Third, there is the matter of the east. Ukraine is divided between the orange provinces of Mr. Yushchenko and the blue provinces of Mr. Yanukovich. The orange tend to be European in outlook, more liberal in economics, and ethnically Ukrainian. The blue provinces are more Russian in outlook, in language, and they have benefited from the last 14 years of independence with a centrally manipulated economy. Mr. Yushchenko must remember that 44% of his countrymen voted for someone else. Logic suggests a federal arrangement, or even a division of the country. However, for emotional rather than logical reasons, neither seems to be possible. Perhaps, designating Russian as a second official language throughout the country might help.

And finally, there is the question of the Russian bear. President Vladimir Putin bet heavily on a victory for Mr. Yanukovich, and he lost. Mr. Yushchenko must now walk a fine line in implementing his program of westernization without creating problems with Russia, a nation that still has numerous economic and social ties to the independent, and finally free, Ukraine.


© Copyright 2004 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.


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