I then called the radio station and left a message suggesting that the CBS should be reporting the ongoing important decisions of Ukraine’s parliament instead of advertising Putin’s opinion. Certainly not because of my call, something has changed the tenor of that station later in the day.
Uncertainty and hesitation also shows in friendly territory, in the form of apprehension such as: “I fear that today’s Ukraine can best be described as power vacuum. There is a danger that defeat will be snatched from the jaws of victory.”
Power vacuum?
The parliament has enacted in two days major fundamental changes, such as restored the 2004 Constitution, dismissed a president who fled from Kyiv and his key minions from cabinet positions, and authorized prosecution of officials who ordered or condoned the use of firearms against unarmed protestors. The new speaker in parliament, Oleksandr Turchynov, was given presidential power until the snap elections scheduled in May this year.
A true revolution, one that overthrows an existing regime and brings a new order, such as now taking place in Ukraine, can never be described as creating a power vacuum. And, indicating that the jitters about split of Ukraine in two parts are subsiding, the politicians in the southeastern regions apparently are now having second thoughts.
That’s not all.
Recall Viktor Yushchenko’s declaration, shortly after he was elected president of Ukraine in 2004: “The Orange Revolution is over. We need stability” — despite the crowds at Maidan chanting for change, not stability, only a few months earlier. Certainly not for the stability of corruption, for which the country was famously known — then and now. That’s how President Yushchenko inaugurated his own downfall. In effect he buried the Orange revolution. This must not be repeated. Real heroes died at Maidan for change in Ukraine this winter.
Reservations have been expressed by some about determination of the Right Sector organization and several similar groups to stay at Maidan and make sure that the new government is moving in the direction of real change and not just providing cosmetic window-dressing for reincarnation of existing socio-economic jungles at the cost of Ukraine’s genuine national interest. But it must be recognized that this organization has given itself this role because the opposition leaders apparently never took seriously as their own number one priority the need to make sure that this revolution, after scoring a momentous victory, does not return to the same swamp that characterized the Yushchenko years in office after the Orange revolution.
An op-ed in the Kyiv Post, “The oligarchs should pay the price, not throw crumbs to Euro-Maidan” by Serhiy Leshchenko on Feb. 23 provides an excellent overview of what should be done.
It shouldn’t matter whether the movement such as the Right Sector, in terms of political spectrum, is right-leaning or left-leaning. And, let it not be forgotten that it had organized and provided the main fighting force at Maidan to defend the protesters against police violence. That’s why Russia’s president Vladinir Putin calls them radicals and extremists.
And more: After a shaky compromise agreement was signed by Yanukovych and the opposition leaders (“the best possible”) in wee hours on Feb. 21 that would let Yanukovych stay in office until elections in December this year, Dmytro Yarosh, leader of the Right Sector made the right call, demanding that Yanukovych step down by 10 a.m. on Feb. 22 or be forcibly removed from office. Apparently the public did not know at that moment that Yanukovych could not rely on the army to crush the protesters. But he knew it, after dismissing two army chiefs lately within a few weeks.
Perhaps in the not too distant future someone will publish details about who knew what and when. It seems that no one outside of Yanukovych’s inner circle knew by Feb. 2 that the boss is finished. When the three Western foreign ministers were departing from Kyiv after six hours of grueling negotiations that culminated in the signing of a compromise agreement, they thought and said so that the alternative was martial law.
Apparently the Maidan leaders had the savvy to disagree. They refused to accept the agreement. It can be argued whether or not Yanukovych’s flight was triggered by their ultimatum. But his speedy departure made a huge difference from the uncertainty that would be hanging in the air had he stayed as president until December.
Boris Danik is a retired Ukrainian-American living in North Caldwell, New Jersey.
