Turning the pages back... November 28, 2004 (11/27/05)

Turning the pages back...

November 28, 2004

This week, we provide another snapshot of the situation in Ukraine as the Orange Revolution was unfolding last year. Following are excerpts of our editorial from our November 28, 2004, issue, written on the day before Thanksgiving, just as the results of the Ukrainian presidential election were announced by the Central Election Commission.

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... 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. ...

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. ...

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." ...

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.

Source: "Ukraine demands a fair count" (editorial), The Ukrainian Weekly, November 28, 2004, Vol. LXXII, No. 48.

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