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December 27, 2004
welcome to 2005!
Merry Christmas, boys and girls. We are now officially in the year 2005, exactly 5 years since numerous predictions of an imminent Y2K apocalypse..
oh boy, and did this year start on a truly thunderous note. As of today, there has been close to 23,000 reported dead and many more missing and unaccounted for as a result of a giant tsunami storm induced by a 9.0 earthquake (full BBC coverage here)
This devastating and tragic event easily overshadowed a climatic change in Ukrainian political atmosphere. With 98% of votes counted, the opposition lead by Mr. Yuschenko has been officially declared the winner by a considerate margin (around 10%).
Of course, as could be expected, the first faint cries of a tainted and fraudulent vote began to trickle in as the elections drew to a close. What amazes me is how quickly the tables have turned. Now it is Mr. Yanuchenko (the loosing party), himself just recently implicated in the court of public opinion for orchestrating massive electoral fraud, who cries foul and exhibits himself as the purveyor of all good and just (read full BBC coverage here)
Despite of the favorable outcome, I'm still worried about the developments in the Eastern Ukraine. Will the people of Donetsk accept this election outcome and embrace their new duly elected leader? There seems to be but a glimmer of home for peace and quiet in this part of Ukraine. Historically, native Ukrainian populace and Russians have deep nested resentment towards each other. With Mr. Putin's interests in the mix, I remain uncertain this victory will receive genuine recognition by all sides. If the pro Putin thugs went as far as poisoning an opposition leader to assure their certain victory, who is to say they are going to easily concede their defeat in the election re-run?
They could just as easily choose to continue their fight by stirring up some trouble in the Donetsk region. Of course, we'll hope for the best.. but should always be mindful of the worst. Remember, with the outgoing president Kuchma’s shady past, he has everything to loose if his replacement, Mr. Yuschenko, decides to vigorously pursue the case. And a cornered rat with nowhere to run could be full of surprises…
Posted by vladb at 09:45 AM | Comments (0)