Movement for a Socialist Future

Seen from here, it appears that the dramatic events in the Ukraine have echoed round the world. As usual in the bourgeois world, most of the information about the "Orange Revolution" which has reached the reader of the mass media has been false, giving a completely distorted picture of the events.

What actually happened in the Ukraine during the recent presidential elections? According to the reports streaming into the Ukraine and the rest of the world, there were two political camps fighting it out for the presidency: the group of Viktor Yanukovich, the successor to Kuchma, personifying the forces of reaction and totalitarianism, and the group surrounding the ex-prime minister Viktor Yushchenko, uniting the supporters of democracy and freedom.

During the second round of the elections, which were accompanied by mass falsifications, the prime minister in office was declared the winner. This set off a powerful wave of popular anger, hundreds of thousands of people went out on the streets, and in the centre of the capital, Kiev, a tent city was spontaneously erected. As a result Leonid Kuchma and his protégé capitulated, the Supreme Court of Ukraine and the parliament declared the second round of voting void and appointed an effective third round of the elections, at which the freely expressed will of the people declared Viktor Yushchenko the winner.

In fact, the most ordinary of coup d’états took place in the Ukraine, camouflaged to some extent as democratic elections, in which there was not the slightest trace of democracy and free elections. Viktor Yushchenko did not become President as a result of a free expression of the will of the Ukrainian people; he was appointed President of Ukraine by the American government. If one had to describe the essence of the Ukrainian coup d’état in a few words, one might say it was a repetition of the Yugoslav scenario, but without the bombing and the air raids, and without overt military intervention. Instead, political pressure and intervention by means of propaganda raged in Ukraine.

Were there falsifications of the will of the Ukrainian voters at these elections? There certainly were! But, first, what bourgeois elections are there without falsifications? Secondly, the present election campaign in Ukraine was accompanied by mass falsification on the part of both presidential candidates, who in this sense were worthy rivals.

One example is enough: in Eastern Ukraine, where the influence of the reactionary oligarchic clans who have been miraculously enriched by plundering State property, is very strong, there were regions in which over 90% of the electors voted for Yanukovich, which these days might be considered indecent. This inevitably brought justified accusations from Yushchenko and foreign Western observers that the elections were being manipulated. One can hardly object to that. But why were exactly the same results in Western Ukraine, where since 1990 power had been in the hands of reactionary rightwing nationalists, but this time in favour of Yushchenko, declared free and democratic? It is interesting that Russian election observers noticed mass violations of the election rules in Western Ukraine, and none in the East. Western observers saw exactly the opposite! What a wonderful example of the pseudo-objectivity of bourgeois politicians!

In trying to prove the legality of the Presidential elections and the legitimacy of the results, the supporters of Yushchenko and his patrons in the ruling circles of the USA and their Western allies point to the decisions of the Supreme Court and the parliament of Ukraine, which in the closing stage of the elections actually came out for the American protégé, but they fail to mention that the Supreme Court took a decision (which, incidentally, it was not entitled to take under the Constitution), cancelling the results of the second round of elections, under overt and cynical pressure from the "Orange" stormtroopers, who blockaded the Court building until they got the decision they wanted. It was in these conditions that the Supreme Court took its decision. In both cases the members of the Supreme Court, and the members of Parliament, had to get to their place of work through ranks of enraged Yushchenko supporters. Moreover, on one occasion, evidently with the aim of putting pressure on resistant members of parliament, there was an attempt to storm the Parliament building, which was fought off with some difficulty by the guards. One typical feature is that in order to push through a decision to authorise a third round of voting, not provided for in Ukrainian election law, that being the decision which suited the Yushchenko team and his Western patrons, a special amendment just for the vote on this issue was made to the rules of procedure of the Supreme Court, by which all votes in the parliament have to be cast by name! As a result, this vote took place under a secret system, so that the deputies were able to vote anonymously. This was the only way the head of parliament, Vladimir Litvin, could garner a few extra votes from frightened deputies!

Nevertheless, the elections came to an end. Yanukovich and those on his side had to concede defeat. It has to be recognised as one positive result of this election campaign that Ukraine has finally been set free from Leonid Kuchma, who hung on to power to the end. His vile ten-year reign, during which the population of Ukraine fell from over 51 million to under 47 million, came to an end among general loathing and contempt for this evil and stupid man.

The victors started a cynical process of horse-trading for the powerful portfolios. The first to take part in this skirmish was the Socialist Party of Ukraine, which in its recent past had a fine record of fighting this same predatory government whose ranks it was now joining. All this somewhat indecent intrigue was accompanied by a constant refrain about the supreme honesty of the new team, which, of course, is always on its guard.

And it is a fact that all the ministers and other high State officials, before tasting the sweets of office, assigned their property to their closest relatives: fathers, wives or brothers. Who would believe that their concern for the prosperity of a family business would end this way?

Incidentally, this unfortunate family was soon shaken by an initial scandal, and a very telling one – the Minister of Justice resigned because, as his colleagues openly say, a decision taken by the Government trampled on the interests of a certain company which was selling Russian oil to the West, one of whose directors is the wife of the same Minister – the country’s chief lawyer! It is very interesting that the newly-elected President openly sided with the Minister!

The political forces which suffered defeat in these elections are now licking their wounds and preparing for the forthcoming parliamentary elections in the spring of next year. There is a grave risk that if the Yushchenko team has a few failures in its domestic and foreign policy, and with its present composition that is inevitable, because many of its members are already cavorting on the political scene in Ukraine with the grace of bulls in a china shop, that Yanukovich will become not only the head, but the leader and standard-bearer for the opposition as the protégé of the nouveau riche millionaires of the industrial east and centre of Ukraine. If he wins and engages in the inevitable alliance with the rightwing nationalists around Yushchenko, the position of the workers of Ukraine will become simply impossible. Maybe this will prompt the people of Ukraine to fight for their fundamental interests.