(Art 3 ) OrAnGe ReVoLuTiOn!!!

Ukraine's Orange Revolution
Political Protest During Yanukovych, Yushchenko Election Campaigns
© Mark Resnicoff
Jul 10, 2007

Widespread electoral fraud in Ukraine's 2004 presidential election prompts a series of massive, peaceful protests and political events across the country.
Independent Ukraine's fourth presidential election since the disintegration of the Soviet Union was dominated by two main candidates, prime minister Viktor Yanukovych and opposition candidate Victor Yuschenko, Yanukovych was supported by the existing government and the country's Russian-speaking, eastern, industrialized area. Yushchenko, on the other hand, was supported by the more nationalistic and agricultural western areas. The election was volatile, with Yanukovych's party intimidating Yushchenko and his supporters. Many people believe that Yanukovych or others in power were behind the dioxin poisioning of Yushchenko in September, 2004.

First Round Voting

The first-round vote was held on October 31, 2004, with Yushchenko tallying 39.87% of the vote to Yanukovych's 39.32%. The third and fourth leading candidates received a combined 10.8% of the vote. As a result, since no candidate garnered over 50% of the vote, Ukrainian law required a runoff election.
Questions regarding voting irregularities favoring Yanukovych arose immediately after the first-round vote, but were largely dismissed since neither candidate was close to a majority. These questions resurfaced during the second-round vote on November 21 when exit poll results gave Yushchenko an 11% lead, but preliminary results reported by the Central Election Commission revealed Yanukovych to be the winner by 3% of the vote. Allegations of fraud spread rapidly, including claims of voter intimidation, physical assaults, torching of ballot boxes, and multiple votings. Inexplicably, the list of the country's eligible voters increased by 5% on election day. This lead to massive protests around the county beginning November 22 in an attempt to have Yushchenko recognized as the rightful election winner.
Public Gatherings and Protests
The largest of these protests occurred in the country's capital, Kyiv, when an estimated 500,000 people descended upon Independence Square (Maidan Nezalezhnosti). On November 23, these protestors peacefully marched on the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) headquarters carrying orange flags or wearing orange clothing, orange being the chosen color of Yushchenko's Our Ukraine party coalition. Yushchenko, appearing before this huge crowd, said, "We appeal to citizens of Ukraine to support the national resistance movement. We should not leave this square until we secure victory." The protestors obliged, and it is estimated that on some days up to one million people joined the gathering. After twelve days of demonstrations, Ukraine's Supreme Court declared the election results invalid and ordered a revote for December 26.

Second Vote

The re-vote was highly scrutinized by Ukrainian and local observers. Preliminary results announced by the Central Election Commission showed Yushchenko with 52% of the vote and Yanukovych with just over 44%. Yanukovych challenged these results, but all his requests were denied. On January 10, 2005 the Election Commission formally declared Viktor Yushchenko the winner of the election. Yushchenko was sworn in to office as president on January 23, 2005 in the Verkhovna Rada building. Later that day, he appeared in front of hundreds of thousands of people in Independence Square, marking the end of the Orange Revolution

(Art 2) ViKtOr YuShChEnKo' S BiOgRaPhY

Viktor Yushchenko Political Figure
Born: 23 February 1954
Birthplace: Khoruzhivka, Ukraine

Best known as: Popular leader of the 2004 'Orange Revolution' in the Ukraine

Viktor Yushchenko sprang to international prominence in 2004, when he ran for president of the Ukraine against the incumbent prime minister, Viktor Yanukovych, then forced a re-vote after the deciding election appeared to be tainted by fraud. A former accountant and economist, Yushchenko was appointed head of Ukraine's national bank in 1993, shortly after the country gained independence from the former Soviet Union. Yushchenko was made prime minister in 1999 by president (and longtime Ukrainian power-broker) Leonid Kuchma. In 2001, Kuchma relieved the popular Yushchenko from his duties, and Yushchenko promptly became the leader of a liberal opposition coalition known as Our Ukraine. Handsome, charismatic and politically savvy, he attracted a growing following, especially among young pro-democracy activists. In the presidential elections of 2004, Yushchenko was considered the pro-western candidate, while Yanukovych had the support of both Kuchma and Russian president Vladimir Putin. Voting on 21 November was marred by confusion and apparent fraud, yet Ukraine's Central Electoral Commission still declared Yanukovych the winner. Supporters of Yushchenko swarmed into Kiev, clogging the streets and demanding a re-vote. This 'Orange Revolution' (named for the bright clothing the protesters wore) drew worldwide attention, and Yanukovych agreed to a repeat of the voting, which was held on 26 December 2004. Yushchenko won that election by a margin of roughly 52-44%, but Yanukovych immediately contested the results, claiming that "the constitution and human rights were violated." Ultimately the country's Supreme Court ruled that the results would stand, and Yushchenko was inaugurated as president in January of 2005. In August of 2006 Yushchenko accepted the appointment of his rival Yanukovych to the position of prime minister. Yanukovych and Yushchenko continued to battle for power, and in April of 2007 Yushchenko dissolved the parliament and claimed control of the government, setting new elections for May of 2007.
Extra credit: In September of 2004, during the presidential campaign, Yushchenko suddenly became ill and travelled to Austria for treatment. He returned several days later with his face badly pocked and disfigured. In early December of 2004, doctors in Austria who had tested Yushchenko said he appeared to have been poisoned with the chemical dioxin, which possibly had been concealed in soup. Doctors have said the skin condition could take two years to clear up, and the long-term effects on Yushchenko's health are unknown.

(Art 1) UkRaInE tOrN bY bRoKeN pRoMiSeS...

Ukraine torn by broken promises
By Stephen Mulvey
BBC News, Ukraine

A year after the first round of the presidential election that set in motion Ukraine's Orange Revolution, few Ukrainians see much to cheer about.

The millions who stood for weeks on Kiev's Independence Square to demand a free and fair vote achieved their main goals.

They kicked out a corrupt leadership, won freedom of speech and set the country on a path towards Europe.

But many feel let down by the politicians they put their trust in.

The dream team of Viktor Yushchenko and Yulia Tymoshenko - hero and heroine of the revolution, who became president and prime minister - proved incapable of fulfilling their promises.

They pledged an end to Ukraine's notorious cronyism, but after a few months officials were openly trading allegations of abuse of power for personal gain.

"The government acquired many new faces," Mr Yushchenko said as he responded to the crisis by sacking Ms Tymoshenko's government in September.

"The paradox is that the face of the government itself did not change."

Quest for power

He admitted frankly that he and millions of other Ukrainians had begun to be disappointed.

Most of those who are not disappointed are those whose hopes were not high in the first place.

"In a word, I am upset," says Marina Makarchuk, a 60-year-old retired nurse hurrying through Kiev's cobbled streets to her new job as a cleaner.

"I was counting on those promises that were made being fulfilled, but now that seems unlikely. I am disappointed. All governments are the same, everyone just wants power."

Lyudmila Les, a 43-year-old nursery school teacher, clutched her head as she struggled to find words for her frustration.

"Sometimes it almost seems as though the mafia has come to power," she said.

Despite a pledge to separate business from politics, Mr Yushchenko's first administration included three prominent business tycoons.

Ms Tymoshenko herself is rumoured to have made a vast fortune in gas before entering politics, but as prime minister she pushed policies that business disliked - including a review of thousands of privatisations.

Tycoons

This brought her into conflict with some of her pro-business ministers - and in the case of one reprivatisation, the two sides of the government openly backed rival bidders.

Ultimately, Mr Yushchenko accused Ms Tymoshenko of using her position to repay her debts - an accusation she rejected as nonsense.

But Mr Yushchenko himself has not emerged entirely unscathed.

Few supporters objected that much when the tycoons who bankrolled his campaign received government jobs.

But as unconfirmed allegations of corruption swirled around the sacked government, the closeness of Mr Yushchenko's relationship with the tycoons - one is godfather to his son, and he is godfather to another's daughter - began to seem a liability.

The lifestyle of Mr Yushchenko's eldest son has also left journalists asking questions.

Where does a 19-year-old get a Vertu mobile phone and a $100,000 BMW, while paying a peppercorn rent to "friends" for a luxury flat? Might someone be trying to buy influence with the president by providing his son with these riches?

Old friends

They have received no answers, Mr Yushchenko angrily declaring his son's life off limits on grounds of privacy. However, officials say the car is no longer in Kiev.

Cynics also point out that Mr Yushchenko's nephew has become deputy governor of the Kharkiv region at a very young age, and that his son-in-law took over a corrugated iron factory when its previous boss - a friend of the family - was appointed minister of industry.

These presidential relatives may have earned their positions on their own merits, but many Ukrainians have an uncomfortable feeling that may not be the full story.

Plenty of other reasons are given for disappointment:


Price rises and slowing economic growth

The increasing size of bribes demanded by middle-ranking officials

A justice minister (now replaced) who exaggerated his qualifications

Continued failure to find the killers of a beheaded journalist

The granting of immunity from prosecution to local councillors

Reports of campaign funding from a Russian oligarch.

However, the continuing entanglement of business and politics tops the list.

The only other issue that causes as much frustration among former Orange Revolutionaries is the deal Mr Yushchenko struck with his old rival for the presidency, Viktor Yanukovych, in order to get his new prime minister approved by parliament.

"He has quarrelled with his friends and made peace with his enemies," says Lyudmila Les, the nursery school teacher.

"I don't understand it."

EXcEsSiVe & CrUeL ThInGs In UkRaInE...

Well, the excessive things in Ukraine that I´m going to talk, it´s about a bloody and dark period in the history of Ukraine, before been independient form the URSS.

Ukraine remained in the eye of the storm to suffer the greatest catastrophe in their history in the twentieth century, cooked up as genocide by starvation. During the years 1932 to 1933 died for this cause, 7 to 10 million people. The exact number of victims has not yet been determined by historians and demographers, nor their tremendous impact on subsequent generations.
Already owner absolute power in the USSR in 1928, Stalin implements its five-year plan aimed at turning the country into a "paradise on earth". Any impediment to its implementation should be eliminated. Individualism Ukrainian was an obstacle. Thus begins the terror period against the Church and the Ukrainian national leadership. Thousands of religious leaders and intellectuals, scientists, scholars, artists and poets were arrested or deported to Siberia .

In 1930, ordering that the collectivization of the land should be completed at the latest within two years. The lands of the kulak and all their belongings were confiscated by the state. Members of the Communist Party clash are brought from the cities to "assist" in collectivization. Anyone who opposes is denounced and deported. The tax, payable in grain, are increased excessively, forcing the peasants to join collective farms, where such taxes are three times lower. The massive physical annihilation of the Ukrainian farmers, through the artificial famine was a conscious act of terrorism of a political system against peaceful people, whose faded not only a large layer famer- entrepreneurs prosperous and free, but also several generations of the rural population. They undermined the social base of the nation, their traditions, their culture and spiritual native.

And take a look of this terrible information: to 1933, 25,000 people died each day, 17 people per minute. Probably, taking into account the results of the 1937 population census, the loss of lives as a result of physical exhaustion total, typhus, gastrointestinal poisoning, cannibalism, repression, suicide due to mental disorder and social collapse, represented in the Ukraine, eight million people or so...

Going back to actuallity, The actual president of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, in his message to the heads of state in attendance, said: "Dear leaders of the world today, we have enough forces to prevent crimes against men and humanity. I speak on behalf of a nation that has lost 10 million people by the Holodomor, organized genocide against our people. At that time the governments of many countries did not want to see our disgrace. We insist: the world must know the whole truth about the crimes against humanity. Only then can we be sure that all the indifference anymore encourage criminals. "