The international community has for far too long turned a blind eye to the undemocratic power grabs and media muzzling that have re-emerged since Viktor Yanukovych became president on Feb. 25.
Desperate for any kind of political and economic stability in Ukraine, Washington and Brussels brushed aside early warning signs, including the clearly unconstitutional formation of an all-powerful and oligarch-backed coalition earlier this year.
Many news media outlets, especially on the influential national TV airwaves, have turned into mouthpieces for the government or are voluntarily toning down their coverage. These journalists, perhaps in complicity with their billionaire owners, are simply refusing to tackle the hard stories of crime and corruption, even though this nation’s citizens are getting fleeced daily by many in power or by the same set of well-connected business insiders.
It was, thus, vital that two leading pro-democracy non-governmental organizations – representing the values of the top two U.S. political parties — joined forces.
The International Republican Institute and National Democratic Institute rightfully condemned the new election law, which governs the Oct. 31 local elections. This legislation puts Ukraine’s young, still-fragile democracy at risk and may, in fact, mark the end of democratic elections.
The law, analyzed by the organizations in an opinion piece on this page of the Kyiv Post, is clearly designed to limit political competition and stack the deck for the ruling Party of Regions. This is one giant leap to Vladimir Putin-style autocracy.
The White House and all European institutions – including the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe – need to develop some backbone and start speaking out before it is too late.
The mentality of those in power is simple to understand. They will take as much as they can – property, political rights and privileges – until somebody stops them or until they have monopolized the nation as their private fiefdom.
This makes Moscow happy, as the current set of Kremlin leaders will never respect an independent and sovereign Ukraine. But the West, by and large, wants Ukrainians to control their own destiny as a single nation. So it is from the West that voices will have to be raised, in unison with freedom-loving people everywhere, to strengthen the will of Ukrainians, who are only seeking the same universal liberties as all humans, but who now are demoralized by the constant betrayals of their political leaders.
