EDITORIAL: President Yushchenko (01/02/05)

EDITORIAL

President Yushchenko

"This is an historic moment for democracy in Ukraine ... We congratulate Ukrainians for the courage they displayed in standing up for their democratic rights." - U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.

"The people of this great country can be truly proud that yesterday they took a great step toward free and democratic elections by electing the next president of Ukraine." - Bruce George, special coordinator of observers for the OSCE.

"This is a victory of the Ukrainian people, the Ukrainian nation. ... An era of a great new democracy is starting." - Viktor Yushchenko, president-elect of Ukraine.

The quotations above reflect just some of the reaction to the historic vote in Ukraine in the third round (or more properly, the rerun of the second round) of the election during which Viktor Yushchenko was elected the country's president. It was a triumphant conclusion to what is now known around the globe as the Orange Revolution and tangible evidence of the development of democracy in a land that has long yearned for it.

Significantly, Mr. Yushchenko carried 17 of Ukraine's 27 regions (24 oblasts, the Crimean Autonomous Republic and the cities of Kyiv and Sevastopol). The vote count released by the CEC gave Mr. Yushchenko 51.99 percent of the vote to Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych's 44.19 percent - a winning margin of nearly 8 percent and approximately 2.3 million votes.

To be sure, the Central Election Commission has yet to issue the final official tally (it has 15 days to do so), and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych is taking his bid for the presidency to the Supreme Court. However, CEC Chairman Yaroslav Davydovych commented: "I don't know who can doubt it [the result], and even outgoing President Leonid Kuchma, who had picked his prime minister to run as his successor, called on both candidates to accept the result and not file any appeals.

Meanwhile, the people of Ukraine have begun celebrating. And along with them the diaspora.

There is much cause for celebration. The peaceful Orange Revolution has succeeded in making the will of the people of Ukraine known, and felt, and effected. It was the result of a broad public action that saw the use of "people power" and enabled the Ukrainian nation to understand, perhaps for the first time ever, that the true power was in their hands. Moreover, the people of Ukraine had the wisdom and patience to use that power most effectively in a non-violent way.

The presidential election of 2004 demonstrated to Ukraine's corrupt leaders, the country's neighbors and the world that no longer were the Ukrainian people going to remain passive, no longer would they simply endure whatever yoke was placed around their necks.

The election was a clear-cut victory for the people of Ukraine - that was the sentiment of the president-elect as he addressed crowds gathered on Independence Square. That is also why Mr. Yushchenko's campaign has announced that he will take two oaths of office - a symbolic oath with the people on Independence Square, the epicenter of the Orange Revolution, and the formal oath in the Verkhovna Rada.

To sum up, the orange-colored Ukrainian slogan on the front page of this issue says it best: Slava Ukraini - Glory to Ukraine!

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