The frustrations of Ukraine's opposition are becoming palpable and tensions are rising fast in Kyiv. The opposition took the dramatic step of calling on the population to take to the streets to protest against the administration of President Viktor Yanukovych in what some hope could launch a second Orange Revolution, which swept the country in 2004.
Ukraine’s opposition will start holding popular assemblies in different regions next week and urge people to oppose the authorities, the leader of the Batkivschyna parliamentary faction, Arseniy Yatseniuk, was quoted by the Kyiv Post. “We are announcing the people’s assemblies and popular uprising against the regime today near [the monument to] Taras Shevchenko,” he said at an opposition rally near the Taras Shevchenko Monument in the centre of Kyiv on March 9, the press service of the Batkivschyna party reported.
Yanukovych has run roughshod over democracy since taking office in 2010 and tightened his grip on power, while his entourage – the so-called “family” – have enriched themselves through their total control of the political process. The opposition has been blockading the Rada in an effort to put pressure on the presidential administration, but it seems their patience is wearing thin.
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