EDITORIAL: Ukraine demands a fair count (11/28/04)

EDITORIAL

Ukraine demands a fair count

"There will be no revolution." - President Leonid Kuchma, November 20.

"The people's will cannot be broken. People's votes cannot be stolen." - Viktor Yushchenko, November 21.

"It is now apparent that a concerted and forceful program of election day fraud and abuse was enacted with either the leadership or cooperation of governmental authorities." - Sen. Richard Lugar, November 22.

"The United States stands with the Ukrainian people in this difficult time." - The White House Office of the Press Secretary, November 23.

"We cannot accept this result as legitimate because it does not meet international standards ... We call for a full review of the conduct of the election and the tallying of election results." - Secretary of State Colin Powell, November 24.

As we write this editorial on the day before Thanksgiving, the results of the Ukrainian presidential election have been announced by the Central Election Committee: Viktor Yanukovych has 49.61 percent of the vote to Viktor Yushchenko's 46.61 percent. The election, it is clear, has been "won" by fraud. The people of Ukraine, and their supporters beyond the country's borders - among them diaspora Ukrainians - are expressing their outrage. Opposition forces in Ukraine have called for a nationwide strike in protest.

Leaders around the globe have gone on record as stating that they will not recognize the illegitimate vote results and have called on Ukrainian authorities to conduct a full review of the contested election results. And, there are calls for restraint from all quarters as half a million people have taken to the cold and snowy streets of Kyiv in protest, as have tens of thousands in other cities in Ukraine.

Ukrainian Americans can be proud of the quick and resolute response of the U.S. government to the dramatic developments in Ukraine, but we must not let up in our efforts to demand a fair count of the ballots in Ukraine - to secure a reversal of the fraud perpetrated by the authorities in Ukraine. We must continue to press the Bush administration and our members of Congress to demand a just resolution to this crisis - a resolution that reflects the will of the majority of the people of Ukraine. Ukrainians in other countries must engage their leaders to do likewise.

We cannot allow this election to be stolen from the people of Ukraine, for it is more than an election that is at stake - it is the Ukrainian nation's future.

As U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said, "This is the time for all alternatives to be examined, to be examined carefully, to be examined in light of the law, and hopefully, the parties acting reasonably and doing everything to avoid any use of force can find a way forward." Therefore, we are hopeful that the mediation of world leaders and the concern of international entities such as the European Union, OSCE and NATO, will succeed in influencing the Ukrainian government to act responsibly for the benefit of the Ukrainian people and for the sake of Ukraine's place in the international arena.

Democracy in Ukraine, we believe, can yet be saved. For, as events of the past week have shown, freedom is on the march in Ukraine thanks to millions of citizens of all ages and backgrounds who have not only voted but have been fighting to have their voices be heard and their votes counted - properly.

And, the Orange Revolution grows stronger every day.

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