EDITORIAL: The will of the people (12/05/04)

EDITORIAL

The will of the people

This week readers, listeners and viewers around the globe saw that the Orange Revolution in Ukraine was not waning, but growing. More and more people flocked to Kyiv to take part in the mass protests there, and more and more actions were organized around the country in support of the opposition. The momentum seemed to be on the opposition's side, judging by the actions of the Verkhovna Rada, the fact that the Supreme Court was hearing Viktor Yushchenko's appeal, and the ever-increasing reports of news media, police, security officials and ordinary people taking the opposition's side. Mr. Yushchenko vowed to stand fast on insisting for a revote of the second round of the presidential election due to the massive vote fraud that rendered the election illegitimate.

Viktor Yanukovych, the favorite son of the eastern regions and the hand-picked successor of President Leonid Kuchma, seemed to be strangely quiet this week. His supporters were deserting him in droves, willing to sacrifice their candidate for the sake of something greater - a reflection of whatever their personal interests are. His wife resorted to scare tactics as she told an audience in Donetsk that the demonstrators in Kyiv were ingesting drug-laced oranges and that there was an outbreak of meningitis.

Meanwhile, the president of Ukraine traveled to Moscow on December 2 for talks with "Big Brother" Vladimir Putin, who backed his position on a new election - a completely new election, that is, not a revote of the run-off. Said President Putin: "A revote of the second round might prove useless." He ridiculed the very idea of a revote by adding: "And then what? A third, fourth, 25th time. This could continue as long as one of the sides doesn't obtain the result it needs." [And just why did Mr. Kuchma need to travel to Moscow at this time? His country is in the midst of a crisis and he visits with Vlad! Surely, it can't be that Russia is "meddling" - after all, President Putin has spoken out forcefully against the West's "meddling" in Ukraine and has even stated that Ukraine doesn't need to be lectured. What a guy - always on the lookout for the good of Ukraine!]

What Messrs. Yanukovych, Kuchma and Putin, and others who support them would like the world to believe is that the millions demonstrating in Ukraine are simply unhappy that their candidate lost. Therefore, these "malcontents" are not to be taken seriously. Thankfully, most of the West agrees with the opposition that there is much, much more at stake here. What we're talking about is an election stolen from the people of Ukraine. The people are not going to stand for this and that's why they've been occupying Kyiv for the past 11 days (as of the writing of this editorial).

Already there have been rumblings from some quarters along the lines of: "What's the big deal? Exit polls in the U.S. also showed a different result than what was ultimately declared." That, of course, is a completely erroneous and, indeed, deceptive premise. For it is not the exit polls that are the issue, but the hundreds of thousands of ballots destroyed, coerced, altered and illegally cast - many of them over and over again - to secure a Yanukovych victory. Nor is this an issue of east versus west, or Orthodox versus Catholic, or Russophones versus Ukrainophones. True, most of Mr. Yanukovych's support comes from the eastern regions of Ukraine, overwhelmingly Orthodox and heavily Russian-speaking, which is his home base. But, there are Yushchenko supporters in those regions as well. Mr. Yushchenko also enjoys the support of millions of Orthodox Ukrainians as well as those who speak Russian or any number of languages spoken in multi-ethnic Ukraine. The news media's simplifications of alleged "divisions" in Ukraine are misleading at best and disinformation at worst.

The only issue in Ukraine is that the voice of the people must be heard. Millions are demanding a free and fair election, and their demands and aspirations deserve the strong support of the West.

A completely new election, we must underscore, is aimed at bamboozling the people of Ukraine - and the world. Agreeing to that scenario would certainly not reflect the will of the people who believe that, finally, they have a say in the future of their beloved country. Nor would it contribute to the progress of democracy in Ukraine, for if the voice of the people is ignored, what, then, is democracy? Is it something to be negotiated away? For presidents to decide between themselves?

The United States, Canada and the West have already issued strong statements about the historic events in Ukraine. They must continue to insist that it is the will of the people of Ukraine that must prevail via a revote of the run-off; they must forcefully protest Russia's blatant interference in Ukraine's election (and, please, drop the illusions about President Putin, who dreams only of a renewed empire); and, perhaps most importantly for the long term, they must no longer ignore Ukraine but instead put out the welcome mat at the European Union and NATO.

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