Ukraine Today - An Independent Political Review

Ukraine - The Birth of a Nation. A 4 part series as seen from a polish perspective. This documentary failed to give recognition to the role played by Olexandr Moroz, leader of the Socialist party of Ukraine, without whom the Orange Revolution and the election of Victor Yushchenko would not have been successful. In December 2004 Viktor Yushchenko was elected Ukraine's third President with 54% support o voters in the third round of voting in what was to be known as the Orange Revolution . Part of the agreement arsing from the Orange Revolution was the Ukraine's transition from Presidential rule towards a parliamentary system of governance. In 2002/3 Victor Yushchenko  opposed the adoption of a Parliamentary Democacy a proposal put forward by Lenoid Kuchma that fell short by just five votes (295) of the two-thirds vote (300) of Ukraine's Parliament (450) Victor Yushchenko continued when elected President in December 2004 continued to oppose  democrat...

As if Ukraine did not know it already. In what is considered to the first of many reprisals and expose of internal conflict with the Orange coalition Kyiv post has published comments by Our Ukraine-Peoples' Self Defence leader, Yuri Lutsenko, in which he states that Yushchenko betrayed democratic forces having signed the Universal Agreement with Viktor Yanukovych.  He did every thing he could to to allow Yanukovych win the [Presidential] elections.

Yushchenko Facilitates Yanukovych’s Election and Buries the Orange Revolution   Taras Kuzio Two major myths promoted by President Viktor Yushchenko in Ukraine’s 2010 presidential elections were that there was no difference in policies between the two main candidates, Viktor Yanukovych and Yulia Tymoshenko, and that both were “pro-Russian.” These myths helped defeat Tymoshenko by 3 percent in an election where every vote counted. Several pieces of evidence point to the Yushchenko-Yanukovych alliance that facilitated Yanukovych’s election. For instance, the lack of criticism by Yushchenko of Yanukovych preceding the elections (Ukrayinska Pravda, February 10). Yushchenko never criticized Yanukovych’s pro-Russian policies on energy (gas consortium, return to non-market subsidized prices, and revival of the corrupt RosUkrEnergo); Russian as a state language; the extension of the Black Sea Fleet base beyond 2017; opposition to NATO membership, and the Party of Regions allianc...

Yushchenko’s decree “legalizes state terrorism and murder” because Stepan Bandera led “the killings of school directors, teachers, and law enforcement officials.” Ukraine's defeated Presidential candidate ,Viktor Yushchenko has in the dying days of his office declared  Stepan Bandera a national hero.  There was no consensus or legislative review of the presidents decree. Bandera and his organisation of "Ukrainian Nationalists" supported Hitler and his invasion of Ukraine and Russia during the second world war.  His collaboration resulted in the mass murder of  thousands if not millions of people. Yushchenko continues to bring himself and Ukraine into disrepute.   Viktor Yushchenko lost office when he was defeated having only received 5.45%  of the vote during the first round of the Presidential elections held on January 17, 2010. Present day Ukrainian Nationalist  movement is headed by  Australian Stepan Romaniv. Jews w...

First round vote on Viktor Yushchenko's fate to be determined today in what is a referendum on his term of office. Seventeen candidates in total are running against him, four from his own political faction. Yushchenko's party Our Ukraine normally receives around 14% of the national vote.  The polls have him pegged on around 4%. Yushchenko has never been in a winning position even with 14% he would not be re-elected. The combined support of all candidates associated with Our Ukraine is less then 12% according to the recent polls. That's 2% less then the 2006 and 2007 Parliamentary elections. Yushchenko's forces are divided.  Every vote for another candidate is one vote less for Yushchenko. He will be judged on the extent of his support  and every percentage point he falls below 14% . His first hurdle will be to out poll Yatseniuk. Arseniy Yatseniuk has lost a lot of ground over the course of the campaign.  He started out with around 11% to 14% and headed sou...

Not to be outdone by Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine's embattled president, Viktor Yushchenko, has indicated that Ukrainian "Democrats" may consider nomination of a single presidential candidate . Exactly who Yushchenko considers to be part of the " Ukrainian democrats "  is not clear let alone what process they will take in deciding to nominate only one candidate. It is a bit late to decide this issue now.  The deadline for nomination withdrawals is December 21.  If candidates withdraw before that date they can get their deposit back after that date they forfeit their 2.5 million deposit. Yushchenko's support rating has slumped to a low 3.5% and a recent survey conducted by U.S.-based International Foundation for Electoral Systems and financed by the United States Agency for International Development lists Yushchenko with the highest negative rating (83%) of all candidates. The report in the media gives rise that Yushchenko, with only 4 weeks remaini...

Ukraine's embattled President Viktor Yushchenko, has launched his bid for a second term of office promising a host of things he cannot deliver, He claims he will secure Ukraine the right to visa free travel within Europe and will dismiss Ukraine's parliament if they do not conform to his demands and adopt his proposed new constitution which would see the President invested in absolute power and control. His platform for a second term was presented to a less then packed audience of members of his staff and the remnants of his party Our Ukraine who have remained loyal and supportive of the president. Yushchenko's statements and reports in the media have demonstrated why he should not and will not be re-elected to a second term. Yushchenko's demands that the parliament must adopt his proposed constitutional reforms or face dismissal shows a complete lack of understanding of Ukraine's laws and democratic values. Yushchenko attempts to force a referendum to i...

Amidst the current wave of hysteria over the Flue pandemic Viktor Yushchenko in a desperate move has proposed that the Presidential elections be postponed until May .  The decision to be made by Yushchenko and his appointed National Security and Defense Council. (NSDC) This raises a number of issue not the least that Yushchenko is not in a position to determine how or when the election is held.  He could in theory declare a state of emergency in which case the election would be postponed. Yushchenko's suggestion of prolonging his term of office has a number of serious flaws, not the least being that his 5-year term of office expires in January 23. Further more the World Health Organisation has stated that there will be a second and possibly third way of the flue infections in Spring . (April to June).  WHO has given the Ukrainian Government a bill of health over its handling of the current flue crisis. If the situation get to the point that the election MUST ...

Controversy and doubt remain over Yushchenko's alleged poisoning with question being asked Was he in fact poisoned and if so who and by how still unresolved.  The evidence Yushchenko's claims he has to back up the allegation of poisoning has never been presented in a court of law or even the subject of a judicial inquiry.  It is all just hear say. The death of JFK, Princess Dianna and other notable assignation attempts and conspiracy theories,  including 9/11 have all been subjected to a an open inquiry with the evidence subjected to cross examination. President Yushchenko has been in office for nearly  five years and still the evidence has not been tested. Why?  Was he even poisoned?  A few months back  Yushchenko's allegations were brought into question with one of Ukraine's senior officers investigating the veracity of Yushchenko's allegations raising concern that the blood samples sent to Europe for analysis were sent via the U...

Ukraine's embattled President Viktor Yushchenko, has submitted his nomination form for a second term  in office. Yushchenko continues to struggle to gain attraction and support.  He remains stuck on 3% coming in near the bottom of the list with over 86% of Ukrainians indicating that they will not support his re-election. There are already three additional members of his own party nominating to replace him,  Yuriy Kostenko, Oleh Tyahnybok, Anatoliy Hrytsenko and Arseniy Yatsenyuk .  Each nomination weakening his chances of a comeback. The list to date. Inna Bohoslovska [26] [27] [28] Anatoliy Hrytsenko , member of Our Ukraine , former Minister of Defense [29] [30] [31] Volodymyr Lytvyn , parliamentary speaker [32] [33] Oleh Ryabokon [34] Petro Symonenko , Leader of the Communist Party of Ukraine [35] [36] Serhiy Tihipko , former CEO of the National Bank of Ukraine [37] [38] [39] Arseniy Yatsenyuk , former Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada member of Our Uk...

Ukraine's embattled President, Viktor Yushchenko, will self nominate for the position of President raising speculation that he no longer has the support of his own party Our Ukraine. Yushchenko will now pay the 2.5 Million hrivna election deposit himself.  Currently there are two other members of Our Urkaine who have nominated to contest the Presidential election against Yushchenko. ( Anatoliy Hrytsenko and Arseniy Yatsenyuk ) Public opinion polls have consistently place Yushchenko's support rating at below 3% and he is not considered a serious contender for a second term. Prospective candidates have until November 6, 2009 to register with the Central Election Commission .

Having spent much of this year undermining Ukraine's economy Ukraine's President, Viktor Yushchenko, has come out and ad mitted that Ukraine's economic situation is more optimistic than it had been expected at the beginning of the year. What Yushchenko does not mention or give credit for is the handling of the crisis by the Tymoshenko government.

Having been rebuffed by the US President during last weeks UN meeting in the United States, Yushchenko has again been denied another meeting with a head of state.  This time Russia .  Medvedev had no time to meet with Yushchenko during the regional meeting in Moldova this week.

Viktor Yushchenko was denied a meeting with newly elected President Obama.  Yushchenko hoped to meet with the President last week during Yushchenko's visit to the UN.  The shunning of Ukraine's President by the US is another sign of Yushchenko's diminishing influence on the international stage. The US administration clearly has written Yushchenko off as a bad investment and wants to remain at a distance knowing full well that he will not be in office in four months time.

Source Russia Today . The evidence of the 2004 poisoning of the Ukrainian President was falsified by high-ranking officials and Viktor Yushchenko’s family members, a representative of Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office has said. Larisa Cherednichenko, the head of the department for supervision of investigations into criminal cases of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office, was working for the parliamentary commission looking into the circumstances surrounding the alleged poisoning. The findings add yet another twist to the mysterious story that’s been puzzling many for five years. Foreign Notes reports on an article published by Ukrainian Pravda which includes an transcript of the alleged telephone conversation. Two questions stand out "Who was recording the conversation and why? and why was the blood sample routed to the Netherlands (Holland) via the USA?"

A group of West-Ukrainian intellectuals on Thursday urged President Viktor Yushchenko and politicians from the 'democratic' camp to renounce plans to run for presidency in the upcoming election and to offer their supporters to vote for Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko, "who has more chances to win in January 2010." Dr. Stepan Pavlyuk, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the chairman of the Congress of Ukrainian Intelligentsia of the Lvov Region said this at a news conference in Lvov. He said an appeal to Yushchenko and other politicians to unite around Timoshenko as a single democratic candidate had been endorsed at a congress of West-Ukrainian intellectuals in the town of Rakhov in sub-Carpathian Ukraine. The document that carries fifty signatures says the intellectuals view Timoshenko as the only candidate capable of running against the leader of the Regions Party, Viktor Yanukovich, who has huge electoral support in the industrialized eastern regions...

Yushchenko spent 21 million for foreign trips   Ukraine's president Viktor Yushchenko has spent up big on international travel amidst concerns that there is little to no gain from the expenditure leaving Ukraine to pick up the tab.    Yushchenko always takes big suite in his foreign trips, spends millions, but often brings nothing useful back – no important agreements or serious contracts. The president has made 76 trips for the years of his presidency. In his first year Yushchenko spent 15.7 million and this year 20.9 million UAH. Leonid Kuchma, for example, spent only 5.9 million for trips in 2004. Commenting on the president’s trip to Turkmenistan on September 15-16, vice speaker Mykola Tomenko, BYuT faction, said that Yushchenko used two planes and took with him a lot of officials, attendants and musicians. Expenses for president’s upkeep rose by 31%, 1.6 milliard UAH from the budget.

Viktor Yushchenko continues to push for his Constitutional reform . If implemented it would spell the end to Ukraine as a democratic state. Instead of being a democracy Ukraine would become a Presidential autocracy. Holding an open public debate where Yushchenko's version of constitutioanl reform is the only item up for discussion is not the way to go about seeking reform Yushchenko can not legally change Ukraine's Constitution without the support of the Parliament. Ukraine's Constitution can not be amended before the next Presidential election.  The Parliament is the only body that can amend Ukraine's Constitution. In accordance with Chapter XIII: Ukraine's Constitution can only be amended with the consent of no less than two-thirds of the constitutional composition of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. In addition amendments to Chapter I — "General Principles," Chapter III — "Elections. Referendum," and Chapter XIII — "Introduci...

Yushchenko continues to misuse and abuse his power. Ukraine's embattled President, Viktor Yushchenko, is once again, planning to undermine Ukraine's economic stability in threatening to block supply by rejecting Ukraine's budget. Embarking on a political suicide mission to destroy Ukraine's economic stability, Yushchenko hopes to gain some cheap political advantage in the false hope that  Ukraine's suffering will help Yushchenko resurrect his prospects of securing a second term in office.  Yushchenko's support rating is less then  4% and he is expected to lose in the first round ballot scheduled to be held on January 17, 2010. Many western democracies have removed or seriously limited the Head of State's ability to block supply.

All care no responsibility Ukraine's embattled President, Viktor Yushchenko, having just days before the close of the tender undermined the success of for the sale of the Odesa-Port-Side Chemical Plant now turns around and tries to shift the blame for the implosion on to the government. Yushchenko's aim was to stabilise Ukraine's economy in the lead up to the Presidential election. Having failed to reach its reserve of 2 billion dollars, the chemical plant will be relisted for tender following the Presidential election scheduled for January 17, 2010. With Yushchenko neutralized and out of the way Ukraine's economic recover should be in a more stabilised situation.