Leader

Opposition Calls for Strike in Ukraine

By NATASHA LISOVA
Associated Press Writer

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) -- Opposition leaders called Wednesday for a nationwide strike to shut down factories, schools and transportation after officials declared Ukraine's pro-Kremlin prime minister the winner of a presidential runoff election that many countries denounced as rigged.

The call by reformist candidate Viktor Yushchenko and his allies for an "all-Ukrainian political strike" risked provoking a crackdown by outgoing President Leonid Kuchma's government, which has said the opposition's actions in the aftermath of Sunday's bitterly disputed runoff were, in effect, preparations for a coup d'etat.

A strike could also further divide the country: Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych drew his support from the pro-Russian, heavily industrialized eastern half of the country, while Yushchenko's strength was in the west, a traditional center of Ukrainian nationalism.

To prevent the crisis from widening, Yanukovych said negotiations with Yushchenko's team would begin Thursday, the Interfax news agency reported, citing Ukrainian television. The opposition has said, however, that it would talk only about a handover of power to Yushchenko.

The Central Election Commission's decision to declare Yanukovych the winner "puts Ukraine on the verge of civil conflict," Yushchenko told hundreds of thousands of his cheering supporters who massed for a fourth straight night in central Kiev's Independence Square.

After the speeches, many demonstrators headed to the presidential administration building, the site of a tense standoff with riot police Tuesday night. The police presence was heavy again, with about 40 buses disgorging well over 1,000 officers with helmets and shields who stood in phalanxes up to eight deep outside the building.

The election was denounced as fraudulent by Western observers, who cited ballot stuffing, voter intimidation and other irregularities. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday that the United States cannot accept the result, warning "there will be consequences" in the two countries' relationship.

The commission said Yanukovych got 49.46 percent of the vote and Yushchenko 46.61 percent.

"With this decision, they want to put us on our knees," the Western-leaning Yushchenko told the crowd, which responded with chants of "Shame! Shame!" and "We will not give up."

Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz said the opposition was "organizing citizens, stopping lessons at schools and universities, stopping work at enterprises, stopping transport ... and, thus, we'll force the authorities to think about what they are doing,"

Yuliya Tymoshenko, Yushchenko's key ally, said his followers would "surround all government buildings, block railways, airports and highways."

"We have a strict intention to seize power in our hands at these sites," she said, vowing a "consistent struggle that will lead to the destruction of this regime."

She also said that the opposition would go to Ukraine's Supreme Court on Thursday to protest the alleged election fraud, and urged supporters to remain on the square and not let down their guard.

Interfax quoted Yanukovych as saying that in negotiations with Yushchenko's team, "we will be looking for common language. Ukraine is our common land, and we should have a chance to live together as well as possible."

The prime minister's staff declined to comment on the report.

Kuchma, the outgoing president, said Yushchenko supporters were trying to carry out "a coup d'etat." He called "on all political forces to negotiate immediately" and on the international community to "refrain from interference in Ukraine's affairs."

Kuchma called the election "an examination of the maturity and democracy of all the Ukrainian people."

"We will pass this exam," he said.

The election commission announcement came after a flurry of statements on the possibility of negotiations to find a compromise, which Kuchma had proposed earlier.

Mykola Tomenko, a lawmaker and Yushchenko ally, told Yushchenko supporters earlier Wednesday that the opposition would negotiate "only about the peaceful handing over of power to Yushchenko by Kuchma."

Yushchenko claimed victory Tuesday over Yanukovych in the presidential run-off and, in a sign he would not back off, took a symbolic oath of office.

The election has led to an increasingly tense tug-of-war between the West and Moscow, which considers Ukraine part of its sphere of influence and a buffer between Russia and eastward-expanding NATO.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has already congratulated Yanukovych on his victory, and the Kremlin-controlled Russian parliament denounced the Ukrainian opposition for its "illegal actions."

Powell, by contrast, challenged Ukrainian leaders "to decide whether they are on the side of democracy or not."

"If the Ukrainian government does not act immediately and responsibly, there will be consequences for our relationship, for Ukraine's hopes for a Euro-Atlantic integration and for individuals responsible for perpetrating fraud," Powell said.

He was not explicit. However, the United States often revokes the U.S. visas of officials involved in perpetrating fraudulent elections in foreign countries. Another option would be to refuse Ukrainian entry into Euro-Atlantic organizations such as NATO.

Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan of Canada said her government did not accept that the announced results "reflect the true democratic will of the Ukrainian people."

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso warned of "consequences" for the European Union's political and trade relations with Ukraine if its government does not allow a "serious, objective review" of the election. At risk might be around $1.31 billion the bloc has given or committed to Ukraine since 1991 in development and economic aid and possible visa bans.

Lech Walesa, the founder of Poland's Solidarity movement, will travel to Ukraine to act as a mediator in the standoff over the disputed presidential elections there, his son told The Associated Press.

In addition, the Netherlands planned to send a special envoy, Niek Biegman, to Ukraine as part of its role as current holder of the European Union's rotating presidency.

Opposition supporters have taken over blocks of Kiev's main street, setting up a giant tent camp. Yanukovych supporters also became increasingly visible in Kiev, setting up hundreds of tents of their own on a nearby wooded slope. But many of their camps had been dismantled by Wednesday night.

Mykola, a middle-aged miner from Kriviy Rih in eastern Ukraine who wouldn't give his last name, said he came to the capital to support Yanukovych and prevent "usurping power."

Kiev's city council and the administrations of four other sizable cities - Lviv, Ternopil, Vinnytsia and Ivano-Frankivsk - have refused to recognize a Yanukovych victory.

Meanwhile, 14 journalists on Ukrainian state television's main news program announced a strike Wednesday. "We can conquer our fears because there is a stronger feeling - shame," the journalists wrote in a statement, editor Olga Savrey said.

Ukrainian singer Ruslana, who won this year's Eurovision contest, announced she was going on hunger strike and urged European governments to try influence the situation in Ukraine by peaceful means.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...S&SECTION=HOME

In light of what you have read above, what do you think world should do concerning Ukraine? What specifically should the US do?

__________________

Ray

Leader,

The election was fair and square.

Maybe like the Bush Gore stuff.

__________________


"Some have learnt many Tricks of sly Evasion, Instead of Truth they use Equivocation, And eke it out with mental Reservation, Which is to good Men an Abomination."

I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to.

HAKUNA MATATA

Static Caster

Actually, the U.S, Britain, France, Germany (that's right, chancellor Gerhard Schroeder who has close ties with Putin) and many other nations not important enough to mention (cough....uhem....Canada) have publicly expressed their view that this election was a COMPLETE SHAM......unlike the Bush vs. Frankenstein (I mean Kerry) election.

Gio

Bravo! You've shown you understand how the electoral college works. =)

/sarcasm

dave angel

its a grubby little stitch-up, the BBC reported that an area in eastern ukraine posted a 99% turn-out.

no-one in the world has that turn-out in a democratic election, it looks like a saddam hussein popularity poll. if it looks like an elephant, acts like an elephant and smells like an elephant - then its probably an elephant. we know a fixed election when we see one, this is one.

russia should be told by the US and EU - jointly - to butt out of ukraine and the US and EU should back the obsevers on the ground and deny visa rights, trade, aid and political contact until a free and fair election result is inplemented.

it makes a mockery of 'bringing democracy to the middle east' if a european country can be hijacked by a corrupt authortarian acting of russias' behalf.

i would seriously consider this as a case worthy of military intervention from NATO. poland, romania and hungary all have borders with ukraine, NATO should secure ukraines borders and airspace against any russian intervention.

unlike others, i don't like putin, he's not interested in democracy or freedom, he's after power and russian dominance over its neighbours.

PaulG

True, even when it's compulsory like Australia.

Assuming you are an American, i would say; True, you have fixed enough of them over the years or at the very least aided those that have..
[edit] Just saw your post about the IRA, sorry if i offended anyone, just made a fool of myself, anyway what are yoo doing going around sounding so American for?

Could everyone please just ignore my mistake.

False, double standard, can't you see the hypcrisy there, if you ask the Russians to but out then you must too.

Double standard.

Double standard, Russia has a border there too, shouldnt she take actions in case a major civil war breaks out? Theres no such thing as a 'worthy military intervention' only necessary ones.

Going by your rant i'd hardly say you have any knowledge of what Putin is interested in. You seem to be stuck in a Cold War propaganda movie or something. Ever considered he might be doing the best with what he's got?

Freedom and democracy in Russia may be different to what it is in the US or any other state in the world, thats hardly a crime. Why can't you just let nation/states do with thier democracy what they will.

As far as the Ukraine goes, whats needed is some encouragement and support, try and make the actors see a bit of sense. Re-do the election with outside ovservers. Not a whole bunch of sabre rattling and threats of invasion.

dave angel

i'm a brit actually, and not given to approve of interesting, but futile interventions around the world.

putin isn't a democrat in any sense of the word in any of its possible meanings, he controls the media, destroys any possible democratic threat to himself and attempts to divert the entirely justifiable 'war on terror' to his own ends using images of dead children.

chechnya is his problem, caused mainly by him and used by him to re-asert central control over russia, his central control.

surely its a double standard to say that an enemy of the west (saddam) cannot do bad things and subvert elections, but a 'friend' of the west can?

PaulG

In every sense of the word democracy is a subjective term.

All im saying is you don't jump straight onto the witch burning wagon when these events happen, what happenned to the last resort? It is a double standard to say that about Saddam, he was both a friend and enemy of the west and he was more deadly and dangerous when he was a friend. Yep thats a huge double standard.

dave angel

i don't like jumping in to dodgy situations but i think there is a real danger of russia jumping in first, once that happens then its over for ukraine in terms of independant policy making and popular move towards the west - if russia moves in there is also the possibility of an insurgency conflict on europes' doorstep, one that your average european would probably support emotionally at the very least, thus by backing off now we could see a situation develop in which russia is fighting an insurgency on europes doorstep that europe supports.

russian/ukrainian aircraft flying counter-insurgency sorites next to NATO fighter aircraft patroling the NATO-Ukraine border. not a good mix.

your are certainly right to say that democracy is a subjective concept, but its also one of those things that 'you know it when you see it', this is one of those occasions when i don't need a dossier and a great volume of evidence to show me what to believe.

i think the Ukraine govt and the russian president have rigged an election that would otherwise have been hostile to them, i think the result of that election and the aspirations of the ukrainian electorate is now obvious and it is moraly wrong to allow a totalitarian government with foriegn totalitarian government support to stand against the direct wishes of its electorate.

PaulG

What i said on democracy was concerning Russia btw.

I mostly agree, time for diplomacy etc, no where near war footings etc.
You skipped a few stages. I seriously doubt Russia is looking for more conflict than the troubles they already have with breakaway and unstable regions.

Leader

I'm not an expert on the Ukraine, but if the American gov't and European gov'ts think there could be something fishy then I'm going to need more then your word to dismiss it.

Why did you direct your comment at me? I didn't right the article. I simply posted an article for discussion and asked a question. Your response could have been, "The world should do nothing because the election was fair."

Leader

I now this is way off topic, but can you go into a little detail on that? Like what is the punishment for not voting? Is it generally enforced?

dave angel

i think i heard an ozzie journalist on the radio say that he'd been fined about $75Aus for not voting - he'd moved to the UK and hadn't updated his new address.

its an interesting idea, but being an old-fashioned liberal i don't like being forced into doing things that the state tells me i should do.

i'll do them anyway, but as a citizen i'm the one calling the shots, not the state.

back on ukraine, i heard putin on the radio this morning saying that no-one had the right to be involved in deciding ukrainian elections.

clever, once you've stitched up the election, no-one else should be allowed to stick their nose in to try to help fix it.

PaulG

The journalist would just have to show his passport to prove he wasn't in the country at the time of an election. Ive been outside Australia during a few and havn't be fined or anything. $75 fine seems about right, i remember about 15 years ago it was $50.

If you are not on the roll you won't get caught but if so generally you will, not 100% of the time tho.

On Ukraine, can anyone show me anything to suggest or hint Putin had something to do with the election. That isn't just someones opinion.

dave angel

the EU has been fairly critical of putins role so far, certainly british and german ministers on the news (they are the ones i've heard) have said that there has been russian 'interferance' in the pre-election period. i assume (i know about assuming things of politicians) that they aren't just saying that for shits and giggles, and that they have evidence of that from diplomatic missions in ukraine.

certainly there have been persistant stories of several plane loads of 'russian troops' arriving in ukraine wearing ukrainian uniforms at the request of the ukrainian government. how accurate those stories are is impossible to tell.

to be honest, it just sounds right, from recent years it just appears that russia can't get out of the habbit of 'ordering its own backyard' in the way that appears most beneficial to them.