The Militant (logo)  
   Vol. 69/No. 2           January 18, 2005  
 
 
Ukraine vote registers blow to Moscow
(front page)
 
BY MICHAEL ITALIE  
The victory of Viktor Yushchenko in the repeat Ukrainian presidential elections December 26 appears to have quelled the political crisis in the former Soviet republic for the time being. The outcome is a blow to Moscow and presents new openings for Washington and its imperialist allies in that part of the world. Outgoing president Leonid Kuchma has accepted the results, the challenges of the Moscow-backed Viktor Yanukovich have little chance of success, and the Russian government is not in a position to impose the acceptance of its favorite.

According to the Central Election Council (CEC), Yushchenko received 52 percent of the vote against 44 percent for Yanukovich—a margin of more than 2 million votes in this nation of 48 million. The results are a defeat for Russian president Vladimir Putin, who had campaigned for Yanukovich and opposed the idea of rerunning the elections after the second round of voting held November 21. While Putin has not officially recognized Yushchenko’s victory, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov signaled in comments to the German media that Moscow would bow to the inevitable. “We never said we weren’t prepared to work with the president elected by the Ukrainian people,” said Lavrov, according to Reuters.

“My government’s strategy will be European integration,” said Yushchenko, according to Reuters, indicating that his administration would adopt a more pro-imperialist stance than that of the outgoing president. “We want to move westward,” he said, “because Europe means higher standards—of democracy, social policy, and the functioning of the economy.”

Washington took advantage of the economic crisis in Ukraine and the repressive policies of Kiev to present itself as the defender of “democracy” in the former Soviet republic. Under the guise of promoting “democratic” institutions, the U.S. government over the last two years has spent some $58 million to aid opposition forces in Ukraine. In addition, the National Endowment for Democracy reportedly spent $400,000 on “trade union education.” The American Bar Association, for its part, spent another $400,000 giving election law “training” to judges, including five who sit on Ukraine’s Supreme Court whose rulings facilitated Yushchenko’s victory. Imperialist powers in Europe kicked in millions for similar purposes as well.

Yanukovich’s charges of violations of election laws were rejected by the CEC December 30. Although he had promised not to give up his position as prime minister, Yanukovich announced his resignation in a New Year’s Eve address following the CEC decision and protests by Yushchenko supporters who have blocked Yanukovich from holding cabinet meetings. “I believe it is impossible to have any position in a state ruled by such officials,” Yanukovich said. He is now appealing the validity of the election results to the Supreme Court, while acknowledging, “I don’t have much hope” of a favorable ruling.

The political crisis in Ukraine was sparked by widespread allegations of fraud in the November 21 elections, the second round of elections that had begun three weeks earlier. After the CEC announced November 24 that Yanukovich had won by a 49.5 percent to 46.6 margin, mass protests backing Yushchenko broke out in the capital, Kiev. This was followed by counterprotests, also numbering in the hundreds of thousands, in Donetz and eastern sections of Ukraine, where support for Yanukovich was largely based.

On December 3 the Supreme Court annulled the elections, ruling that election law violations by pro-Yanukovich forces had made them invalid.

As the Kiev protests gathered momentum and imperialist pressure mounted over claims of electoral fraud, outgoing president Kuchma and his allies sought a way out of the crisis without relinquishing power. He agreed to a deal in which much of the power of the presidency would be turned over to parliament, in exchange for changing personnel at the electoral council. The council then announced December 26 as the date for a new run-off election for president.

Both presidential candidates had their political roots in the privileged bureaucratic caste that ruled the republic when it was part of the former Soviet Union. Yanukovich was an official in the coal industry in the eastern region and Yushchenko in the state banking system. They each served terms as prime minister during the 10-year presidency of Kuchma, who directed the regime in Kiev toward closer collaboration with imperialist governments, while maintaining firm ties with Moscow.

The Russian government sought to prevent another regime in a former Soviet republic on its borders from turning away from its influence and toward Washington and other imperialist powers. Ukraine in particular had played a vital role in the Soviet economy, supplying much of the country’s iron ore, coal, and heavy industry. The Black Sea port of Sevastopol remains home to Moscow’s southern naval fleet. Under an accord with Kiev, the Russian military may station up to 25,000 troops at Sevastopol and its other bases on the Black Sea.

Meanwhile, on December 31 the government of Turkmenistan announced that it had cut off gas exports to Ukraine. “In what some interpreted was a hidden show of force by Moscow,” reported Agence-France Presse, “Turkmenistan said it had cut off gas supplies to Ukraine to force Kiev to pay higher prices.” A deal between the two governments was quickly reached, with the Ukrainian state-owned company Naftohaz agreeing to pay $58 per 1,000 cubic meters, as opposed to the previous price of $44. Ukraine receives 45 percent of its natural gas imports from the former Soviet republic of Turkmenistan.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home