EDITORIAL: Promises of the maidan (10/16/05)

EDITORIAL

Promises of the maidan

The promises of Maidan Nezalezhnosty (Independence Square, the epicenter of the Orange Revolution) no doubt are on everyone's mind, both in Ukraine and here in the diaspora, in the wake of the recent political crisis in Ukraine that saw President Viktor Yushchenko sacking his entire Cabinet and other administration officials.

As this week's issue of The Weekly was being prepared, the news came that the president had made his last two Cabinet appointments; out of 25 slots in the "new" Cabinet of Ministers, 11 are new appointees. The question everyone now has is: Will the new (or should we say revamped?) team work toward realizing the hopes of the maidan and move Ukraine ahead on the road to true democracy?

And the question is asked for good reason. Many have been disappointed by Mr. Yushchenko's deal with his former archrival Viktor Yanukovych, parts of which negate the victories won on the maidan. We refer specifically to the provisions that call for immunity from prosecution for deputies on local councils (shamefully, the president signed the relevant bill into law on October 5; two days later he said he would contest the law in the country's Constitutional Court) and for amnesty for those who committed election fraud during the 2004 presidential elections.

Readers will probably recall that, as the 14th anniversary of Ukraine's independence approached in August, there already were questions about whether the promises of the maidan were being kept. In his address to the people of Ukraine on the occasion of Independence Day, President Yushchenko had counseled patience, but at the same time assured the public that the clean-up of government would continue.

Just over two weeks later, on September 8, President Yushchenko dismissed the entire Cabinet of Ministers, which had deteriorated into a collection of squabbling special interests. Addressing the Verkhovna Rada on September 20, the day of the first vote on his prime minister-designate, Yurii Yekhanurov, Mr. Yushchenko said his new team would be a group of "pragmatists" who could "work actively for the benefit of Ukraine for the next seven months" - that is, the period leading up to Ukraine's parliamentary elections. Two days later he concluded his package deal with other Viktor.

That agreement (which, at best, could be described as realpolitik) was a raw deal for the people of Ukraine who believed, really believed, in Mr. Yushchenko.

Are we being too idealistic? Perhaps. But hundreds of thousands had gathered on the maidan in Kyiv and millions of others around the country had supported the Orange Revolution. This is President Yushchenko's constituency - a constituency that now feels used, betrayed.

What Ukraine sorely needs is for its leaders to go back to the ideals of the maidan, which was not a passing or desultory phenomenon, but a true awakening of the people of Ukraine. It is now up to President Yushchenko and his team to rekindle that spirit and tap into it for the benefit of the entire nation. After all, as President Yushchenko said recently upon accepting the Philadelphia Liberty Medal: "The Ukrainian nation chose its democratic way to the future. We will never turn back."

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