fbpx
Politics Foreign Affairs Culture Fellows Program

Ukraine Election Results

Ukraine’s opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko basked in his unassailable lead today as prime minister Viktor Yanukovych refused to admit defeat, with just tens of thousands of ballots left to be counted in the bitterly-fought presidential election. “I will never recognise such a defeat, because the constitution and human rights were violated in our country,” Yanukovych […]

Ukraine’s opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko basked in his unassailable lead today as prime minister Viktor Yanukovych refused to admit defeat, with just tens of thousands of ballots left to be counted in the bitterly-fought presidential election.

“I will never recognise such a defeat, because the constitution and human rights were violated in our country,” Yanukovych said last night.

Official results from Sunday’s vote, with ballots counted from 99.89% of precincts, gave Yushchenko 52.01% compared with Yanukovych’s 44.18%. Turnout was 77.2%. ~The Scotsman

The official results, if at all accurate, are significantly closer than the oft-cited exit polls that showed anywhere from an 11 to 20-point margin of victory for Yushchenko. The roughly 5% swing from the first run-off is curious, but if correct it represents the impact of the false reporting and rumour-mongering practiced by the pro-Yushchenko media in and outside of Ukraine. Our own experience from four years ago should remind us that fraudulent and biased exit polling can have a direct effect on the outcome of later voting, as exaggerated margins dispirit and discourage voters of one side. Needless to say, the exit polling was wildly inaccurate and reflects the profoundly one-sided nature of the exit polling agencies routinely cited in Western media reports.

Mr. Yanukovych’s refusal to accept the legitimacy of the election results is perfectly understandable and ought to have been foreseen by those judges who thought it better to meddle in a political process than confirm the legitimacy of the first result. Mr. Yanukovych’s tactical mistake, but the thing that sets him apart from the ochlocracy of Yushchenko, is his refusal to call upon his numerous supporters to stage ridiculous protests of the kind seen in Kiev over the past month. The alienation of the two halves of the Ukraine, which was still fairly limited before now, may well grow in severity, and the radical Ukrainian nationalism of Yushchenko’s supporters will only exacerbate the divisions deepened by this election debacle. A Yulia Timoshenko-led government will be the worst option, yet it seems one of the most likely at this point. Between her criminality and rabid nationalism, Ms. Timoshenko embodies everything that is wrong with Ukrainian politics today.

In the future, every Ukrainian vote will be susceptible to this sort of mob-rule challenge by the opposition, and whatever government Mr. Yushchenko manages to cobble together with his selection of prime minister will have to live under the shadow of its tainted election. It will be expected by its Western patrons to follow through on supposed “reform” packages, and will find itself in the impossible situation of trying to please its hard-core nationalist backers and its foreign friends. Ironically, the relative success of Mr. Yushchenko as president and the government his prime minister will select depends very heavily on a Russia that his party and supporters have gone out of their way to antagonise and embarrass.

Advertisement

Comments

The American Conservative Memberships
Become a Member today for a growing stake in the conservative movement.
Join here!
Join here