Toronto students and community rally for free elections in Ukraine (11/21/04)

Toronto students and community rally for free elections in Ukraine

by Zenia Kish

TORONTO - Toronto's Queen's Park reverberated with the lively chanting of "Give Ukraine a voice!" and singing of Ukraine's national anthem at a rally calling for free and fair elections in the upcoming final vote for Ukraine's new president. To be held on November 21, the second round of voting is widely perceived as being a watershed moment for Ukraine as it chooses between Russian-backed Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko.

Under as much scrutiny as the candidates themselves is the election process, which has received a battery of criticism from internal and international organizations. By the accounts of observers posted in Ukraine from European and North American organizations, the October 31 vote was riddled with violations and fraud. The run-up to the election also saw a crippling media bias propagated by a predominantly state-run television empire that squeezed out most opposition outlets in cooperation with a corrupt media licensing board and punitive tax commission.

Parading signs that read "no to media intimidation!" and "100% fainess of election = 100% Democracy," over 150 people gathered in the cold to listen to speakers addressing the critical role of student groups in staging significant resistance to government intimidation, what the Canadian government is doing in Ukraine and the falsifications witnessed by election monitors in the first round of voting.

Spearheaded by the University of Toronto's Ukrainian Students' Club, rally organizer Alexandra Zalucky was moved to raise public awareness of the systemic departures from democratic practice in Ukraine, and also "to show our support for the courage and activism of Ukrainian citizens."

"There are serious abuses of democratic rights taking place in Ukraine, but these abuses are not being tolerated by a vast number of Ukrainian citizens. People are attending rallies and speaking up whenever and however they can, despite threats and media blackouts," she noted.

The student club served hot chocolate to those gathered, and led the crowd in a spirited sing-along to the enthusiastic interpretation of traditional Ukrainian musical motifs by eminent pop diva Ruslana.

Student club president Adria Pelensky cited the importance of erecting a defiant show of protest to the institutionalized corruption tainting the Ukrainian electoral process. "It's critical that the diaspora become aware of the conditions in Ukraine at this critical point in their democratic development," she commented.

Noting that it was especially important that youths voice their concern, she said "it was only fitting that the club organize an event to voice this awareness to the greater community."

Echoes of this concern will be carried to Ukraine by speaker Marta Chyczij who attended the first round of elections and will return to monitor in the next round this weekend.

Paul Grod of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress shared with the crowd his organization's contributions for the elections, which has sent 61 observers from Canada. While a small number of long-term observers were supported by the University of Alberta, the short-term observers volunteered their time and financial resources, spending $300,000 of their own money to cover the travel and administration costs.

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