The appetite and expectation for protest among Ukrainians has reached record highs, as we report on page 2. This is surely worrying news for President Viktor Yanukovych, who has seen his popularity plunge since taking over as president in 2010. As his ruling Party of Regions faces voters in the Oct. 28 parliamentary election, the expectation of big protests is surprisingly higher than ahead of the 2004 Orange Revolution, which stripped Yanukovych of a fraud-marred presidential election victory
Protests happen when people see that the government is not responding to their demands and see no other way to make changes.
Protests are the desperate cry of a neglected population tired of sitting in traffic jams while top officials fly past in convoys, of eking out a living while the president and his cronies live in luxury, of battling with tax inspectors and raiders who want to feast on the fruits of other people’s labor.
Protests happen when people see that the government is not responding to their demands and see no other way to make changes.
We view the mood for protest, according to the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology survey, as a positive sign about the reawakening of Ukraine’s people after years of disillusionment from the absence of leadership provided by ex-President Viktor Yushchenko.
There are parallels with the Snow Revolution under way in Russia.
For Ukrainians, as for Russians, there are gains in material wellbeing and in civil liberties to be protected and improved through the political process. But in both nations, democracy is stunted – especially in Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian Russia, while Ukraine under Yanukovych is moving down the same wrong path.
The days are hopefully coming to an end when citizens are going to idly watch Ukrainian oligarchs amass extraordinary riches while so many millions of people live on the edge of poverty in a nation rich in labor, education, natural resources – and home to some of the world’s top grain, steel, chemical and arms exporters.
The younger generation, again, offers the greatest hope and energy through their associations and social networking with demands that Ukraine’s leaders improve their accountability and move the nation further towards democracy.
In order to prevent the appetite for protest from turning into street actions, Yanukovych needs to address Ukraine’s real divide. This is not between the country’s west and east, but between those who abuse power and those who are abused by power. It is hard to see how Yanukovych, a product and perpetrator of that very system, will achieve this.
