Anth
151: Ukraine's
Orange Revolution
Помаранчева революція
In fall, 2004, Ukrainians prepared to
elect their third president since gaining independence from the Soviet
Union in 1991. An unusually large number of candidates ran, but
in the first round of elections, on October 31st, no one candidate
received more than 51% of the vote. As a result, a second,
run-off election was scheduled between the two top contenders:
Viktor Yanukovych, the hand-picked successor to Ukraine's second
president Leonid Kuchma, and opposition candidate Viktor
Yushchenko.
On November 21st, Ukrainians
went to the polls in record numbers. Reports of widespread fraud
and voting irregularities quickly surfaced. After the
election commission declared Yanukovych the winner, hundreds of
thousands of
supporters of opposition candidate Viktor
Yushchenko poured into Kiev's Independence Square and remained there
for weeks, protesting that Yushchenko had really won the
election. These protests became known as the "Orange Revolution,"
named after Yushchenko's campaign color. Finally,
the Ukrainian Supreme Court declared that a third round of elections
needed to be held. This time, Yushchenko was declared the winner.
Click here to see a
timeline of the Ukrainian election
controversy
Links and articles (for
class Tuesday 11/22)
Below are links to news and analysis
articles about the 2004 Ukrainian Presidential elections, alleged
election fraud, and the protests that erupted after
Prime-Minister Viktor Yanukovych was declared the winner.
Click here to
visit the English language website of Viktor Yushchenko's Party,
"People's Union Our Ukraine," which displays some of his campaign
banners with the slogans "Tak!" (Yes!) and "I believe. I
know. We can do it."
Yushchenko speaks to supporters waiving his
campaign flag
Click here for a BBC profile of Viktor Yanukovych.
Viktor Yanukovych's supporters
wearing his campaign color, light blue
Link to maidan.org, a news and
action group formed around the Orange Revolution
Link to PORA (It's time) .
English page is down, but Ukrainian and Russian versions are up.
Time Magazine article on the Orange Revolution, 11/28/04:
http://www.time.com/time/europe/magazine/article/0,13005,901041206-832153,00.html
Articles on the 2004 election campaign presented on Yushchenko's
website:
http://www.razom.org.ua/en/news/cat/11/
Radio Free Europe article on the political fallout of the Orange
revolution in other post-Soviet countries:
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/01/0877F639-C2DA-4C72-B644-E0145C5FADD7.html
BBC article on the first anniversary of the Orange Revolution:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4459224.stm
News analysis by
Taras Kuzio, a leading Ukraine expert:
11/05/04 WHY YANUKOVYCH LOST ROUND ONE
AND WHY HE WILL LOSE IN ROUND TWO
11/17/04 UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES
SCRAMBLE TO COLLECT MORE SUPPORT AHEAD OF RUN-OFF
11/24/04 INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY DENOUNCES
MASS ELECTION FRAUD
12/02/04 UKRAINE: East-west break-up fears
are overdone
12/10/04 POLAND PLAYS STRATEGIC ROLE IN
UKRAINE'S "ORANGE REVOLUTION"
12/17/04
YUSHCHENKO VICTORY TO SPEED UP UKRAINE'S DEMOCRATIZATION AND
EUROPEANIZATION
1/12/05 VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO DECLARED UKRAINE'S
PRESIDENT
