"The Orange Revolution through the prism of today's Ukraine"
"The Orange Revolution through the prism of today's Ukraine"
Every now and then I feel the need to collect my thoughts and feelings down onto paper (or at least words) about Ukraine etc. The Orange Revolution affected me immensely, and as we are near finishing the Orange Revolution documentary, I felt the need to reflect about recent emotions. If anyone's interested, here it is...
“All able bodied men outside! All those men ready to defend please go outside now!” This was the call reverberating inside the Ukrayinski Dim. Men dozing on the floor, standing in food lines, and freshly thawed from the cold, all filed outside. I followed suit with my camera, during the first days; there was no major press in sight.
“This is a mobilization of all men. People, who are ready to defend the right side, please report to Oleksander. Look at his face; he is responsible for occurrences on the right side. Gennady, a captain in the police force will steer the center. You are deciding among yourselves, please organize and everything will be ok. Please know that when they agitate you, stay calm and orderly. Everyone understand? Any questions? And we will show them!”
“What’s happening?” I asked my new friend Ivan.
“They are preparing to defend in case of an attack.” he replied.
It was Wednesday November 24, 2004, 3 days after the Ukrainian presidential election. Tens of thousands had arrived in Kyiv, and no one knew what would happen next. People had come with a purpose, and were ready to fight, and perhaps die for their cause. Turns out they didn’t have to, and little would anyone believe what would happen in the next 2 months, and beyond that, even more unimaginable, was Ukraine’s current political situation.
The Orange team came into government on a wave of people power and got swept away just as quickly by egos and personal infighting. Personality clashes took precedence over the greater good of the country, resulting in Yanukovych and the Donetsk oligarchs return to power. Yanukovych really didn’t have to do too much, other than show up, point to the weakness in the Orange leadership, and rattle off the usual anti-West slogans.
The Orange politicians had very quickly forgotten whom they first had responsibility to: the people. (Again, I note the failure of ANY politicians to come out and thank the people the night of Yushchenko’s inauguration.) It seems as if the principles of democratic governance are lessons Yushchenko is learning just very recently.
Despite Yushchenko's proclamation that bringing Regions into government would unite Ukraine, The people did not cry, “East and west together, let’s compromise our principals.” Rather they rallied around “No to Falsification! Bandits to Jail! Together we are many!”
The “East and West together” chant surfaced when Eastern Ukrainians were bused in to wave the flag for Yanukovych, and the Orange supporters wanted to show that they weren’t against the people of Eastern Ukraine, but a corrupt government and system. The intention was for the Yanukovych supporters to realize this fact and join the fight for a better Ukraine.
And today? How does a parent explain to their children that the principles we fought for were squandered by our chosen leaders? That the promises made on Maydan were not kept? That the people had again been used and betrayed? What kind of damage does that do to the psyche of a nation? How is it possible that a movement that captured the attention of the world, an uprising that was unique in modern human civilization, an event that made Ukrainians proud, respected and even noble, could be so tainted by the failures of the man and the government who was supposed to represent it?
On the ground, during the Orange Revolution, we knew things were askew when Yushchenko sat at the table for talks with Yanukovych, to “negotiate” an end to the “crises”. I wondered at the time, why was Yushchenko giving them the respect of citizens rather than treating them like criminals? (I myself had dreamt on the flight to Kiev about getting close enough to Yaukovych to stab him with my penknife. I figured I could do the appropriate damage before they would take me out.)
Pora quickly issued a statement to Yushchenko. -No negotiations with bandits. –
People exclaimed on the street, “How can Yushchenko be sitting there at the table talking with those crooks?!” He is representing us, the people!“ " How can he possibly look Yanukovych in the eye and shake his hand? "How can he refrain from reaching across the table and choking him screaming, 'How could you do this to my face!'”
Today, these questions remain unanswered. But there are many speculations.
Perhaps he wasn’t negotiating on behalf of the people, but of his business clan, and the “compromise” made by Yushchenko that day was the first hint of things to come. At the time this ability to compromise by Yushchenko gave him credibility for preventing violence during the revolution. But if he is so willing to "compromise" they why did he have a tough time finding common ground with his ally Yulia Tymoshenko? Why did he choose to bring Yanukovych new political life rather than working out his differences with an orange ally? In the end this preference is the demise of Yushchenko's political career, as it brought Yanukovych back to power as a stronger-than-before Prime Minister. Yushchenko has lost the respect of his electorate. Despite him being a "nice guy" his political career seems to be on the way out.
It now appears that he was representing someone else’s interests first, the people who stood to gain from Yushchenko coming to power, even if it meant compromising the promises of Maydan, and the will and rights of the people.
On Maydan’s stage, Yushchenko had proclaimed, “The bandits think they will come to power, that they are rooted in Ukraine. We, the people of Ukraine, cannot allow this.” And so the people didn’t. But Yushchenko did allow for it, he chose not to represent the people who put him in the presidency, but the people who had supported and maneuvered him throughout his political career. Plucked from the National Bank of Ukraine by Kuchma, Yushchenko was not a politician of volition. Yushchenko was an economist, from the old system of government, but with western experience. He was chosen to be Prime Minister by Kuchma because of his appeal to westerners and I would also venture to guess because of his malleability.
However, one would think after all the intrigues leading up to Ukraine’s Presidential election, he’d be one vengeful president by the time he got to power, even a transformed person after he was able to ride the orange wave and appear as a Christ figure to millions of Ukrainians who believed that he would bring change to Ukraine.
We know now this was tragically not to be. Yushchenko did nothing to lock away any of the main organizers of falsification, he did nothing to take advantage of the one year of presidential power that he had acquiesced to Parliament. He actually did very little in the first year other than travel around and collect symbolic and financial awards that should have been bestowed upon the Ukrainian people. And much as he collected those representative awards, he must know take responsibility for the current state of affairs.
And what of his current talk of National Unity? It is true that Ukraine is divided, but putting the Donetsk clan in power is not going to seal that divide. Particularly if your only leverage is a paper contract that seems to hold no binding value in Ukraine. (Gas contract? Orange coalition agreement?) These are thugs in suits that control the people’s lives through fear of job loss, intimidation, and aggression. Rewarding these methods with positions in government does not serve for the benefit of the Eastern Ukrainians. What about the Eastern Ukrainians who put their lives on the line standing up to Yanukovych’s goons, who were physically threatened or beaten for wearing orange, how are they supposed to feel now? Betrayed. Apathetic. Disgusted.
The proper method of overcoming the current divisions was with truth and information. Presenting the truth to the masses and welcoming them in. Instead of spending his first year collecting awards that the people deserved, he should have been traveling to Eastern regions of Ukraine, speaking, educating, soothing their fears, and making attempts to win over their support by breaking down the informational wall… proving to them that he is not a fascist and all the other propaganda that has been fed to “Soviet Ukraine” for over a decade.
Due to this negligence, the Party of Regions was able to hold onto their electorate, while Orange became split, with Tymoshenko garnering the Orange crown, she being the only politician who seemed to understand at least the psychological and social impact that the Orange Revolution has had for Ukrainians. There is a “legend” in Ukraine about a woman who will come to power and bring Ukraine to its full potential. Whether Yulia will make that myth reality is unclear, as many criticize her party of clan-like business ties as well. But to date, she has not yielded from her ideals.
Buoyed by the power of the Revolution, Ukraine had the possibility to achieve great things, to ride a wave of enthusiasm no modern country has ever had. It was indeed the best chance Ukraine has had in some 800 years to realize its identity and true potential. Of course now that has been tragically squandered by the Ukrainian ego, and can never be reclaimed. A sad fact that Russia has still not learned, is that it appears that when left to fend for itself, Ukraine does more damage on its own than when united against a common enemy.
Today, we often think of the ‘what could have been?’ but it’s more constructive to look at where we are. The Party of Regions has been playing by the rules, largely because they haven’t had the need to do otherwise. They are certainly posturing in a different way, and until they make a major mistake, Ukrainians must give them a chance to exist in power, as the rules of democracy have given them that opportunity.
Ukraine has certainly changed due to the Orange Revolution. A freer media and strong opposition will help to keep politicians in power in check, or at least make it harder for them to steal. The corruption system that Ukraine functions on is still very much in place, and that won’t go away any time soon. However, truth is slowly being revealed. The people deserved another parliamentary vote, knowing today’s truths about Yushchenko and the Socialists, whose electorate voted for them as part of the Orange camp. If the media can stay fairly independent and show fallacy from both Nasha Ukrayina and Regions, the truth might be illuminated and those who so vehemently supported Yanukovych might also become disenchanted, and the next election would have very different results, hence a healthy democracy at work.
Perhaps the patriots of Ukraine will make their voices heard again… it is their land, there is no other Ukraine, and I don’t believe that they will give up on it. For hundreds of years they haven't, and I hope that they won't stop now. The Russophiles can always head back across the border if they really want to be part of "Mother Russia" so earnestly. Maybe to really have radical change in Ukraine there won’t be a peaceful resolution. Regardless of what might come in the future, there is one factor that consistently gives me faith; the backbone of the Orange Revolution was young people, from Lviv to Herson, from Zaporizya to Harkiv, and even to Donetsk. Today’s Ukrainian youth are very different than Ukraine’s current leaders. Having grown up outside of the Soviet system, they are a different generation, with a alternate mentality.
The vital question now is; will Ukrainians now live a life of apathy and disengagement? Or will they continue to fight for their ideals, for their dreams? I believe this question resonates back in America and all over the globe.
The Orange Revolution chapter in Ukraine’s history is done, and the events of those days will forever be incredible. I feel privileged to have witnessed them and been able to preserve that time within my documentary, to now be able to revisit and educate about Ukraine’s Orange Revolution story. And I have felt the same exasperation, helplessness, and anger about current events as anyone else who is paying attention. I changed my mind about going to Ukraine for Independence Day and attending the Diaspora Forum. In retrospect, I realize that this was a mistake. The people who came out during the Orange Revolution don’t deserve to have their back turned on by us, rather we should honor them. These were Ukrainians ready to die for their country, and their (our?) fight continues on. And that's why I will return to Kyiv for the 2nd anniversary of the Orange Revolution, to honor those people who made the events of the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election very much extra ordinary.
Every now and then I feel the need to collect my thoughts and feelings down onto paper (or at least words) about Ukraine etc. The Orange Revolution affected me immensely, and as we are near finishing the Orange Revolution documentary, I felt the need to reflect about recent emotions. If anyone's interested, here it is...
“All able bodied men outside! All those men ready to defend please go outside now!” This was the call reverberating inside the Ukrayinski Dim. Men dozing on the floor, standing in food lines, and freshly thawed from the cold, all filed outside. I followed suit with my camera, during the first days; there was no major press in sight.
“This is a mobilization of all men. People, who are ready to defend the right side, please report to Oleksander. Look at his face; he is responsible for occurrences on the right side. Gennady, a captain in the police force will steer the center. You are deciding among yourselves, please organize and everything will be ok. Please know that when they agitate you, stay calm and orderly. Everyone understand? Any questions? And we will show them!”
“What’s happening?” I asked my new friend Ivan.
“They are preparing to defend in case of an attack.” he replied.
It was Wednesday November 24, 2004, 3 days after the Ukrainian presidential election. Tens of thousands had arrived in Kyiv, and no one knew what would happen next. People had come with a purpose, and were ready to fight, and perhaps die for their cause. Turns out they didn’t have to, and little would anyone believe what would happen in the next 2 months, and beyond that, even more unimaginable, was Ukraine’s current political situation.
The Orange team came into government on a wave of people power and got swept away just as quickly by egos and personal infighting. Personality clashes took precedence over the greater good of the country, resulting in Yanukovych and the Donetsk oligarchs return to power. Yanukovych really didn’t have to do too much, other than show up, point to the weakness in the Orange leadership, and rattle off the usual anti-West slogans.
The Orange politicians had very quickly forgotten whom they first had responsibility to: the people. (Again, I note the failure of ANY politicians to come out and thank the people the night of Yushchenko’s inauguration.) It seems as if the principles of democratic governance are lessons Yushchenko is learning just very recently.
Despite Yushchenko's proclamation that bringing Regions into government would unite Ukraine, The people did not cry, “East and west together, let’s compromise our principals.” Rather they rallied around “No to Falsification! Bandits to Jail! Together we are many!”
The “East and West together” chant surfaced when Eastern Ukrainians were bused in to wave the flag for Yanukovych, and the Orange supporters wanted to show that they weren’t against the people of Eastern Ukraine, but a corrupt government and system. The intention was for the Yanukovych supporters to realize this fact and join the fight for a better Ukraine.
And today? How does a parent explain to their children that the principles we fought for were squandered by our chosen leaders? That the promises made on Maydan were not kept? That the people had again been used and betrayed? What kind of damage does that do to the psyche of a nation? How is it possible that a movement that captured the attention of the world, an uprising that was unique in modern human civilization, an event that made Ukrainians proud, respected and even noble, could be so tainted by the failures of the man and the government who was supposed to represent it?
On the ground, during the Orange Revolution, we knew things were askew when Yushchenko sat at the table for talks with Yanukovych, to “negotiate” an end to the “crises”. I wondered at the time, why was Yushchenko giving them the respect of citizens rather than treating them like criminals? (I myself had dreamt on the flight to Kiev about getting close enough to Yaukovych to stab him with my penknife. I figured I could do the appropriate damage before they would take me out.)
Pora quickly issued a statement to Yushchenko. -No negotiations with bandits. –
People exclaimed on the street, “How can Yushchenko be sitting there at the table talking with those crooks?!” He is representing us, the people!“ " How can he possibly look Yanukovych in the eye and shake his hand? "How can he refrain from reaching across the table and choking him screaming, 'How could you do this to my face!'”
Today, these questions remain unanswered. But there are many speculations.
Perhaps he wasn’t negotiating on behalf of the people, but of his business clan, and the “compromise” made by Yushchenko that day was the first hint of things to come. At the time this ability to compromise by Yushchenko gave him credibility for preventing violence during the revolution. But if he is so willing to "compromise" they why did he have a tough time finding common ground with his ally Yulia Tymoshenko? Why did he choose to bring Yanukovych new political life rather than working out his differences with an orange ally? In the end this preference is the demise of Yushchenko's political career, as it brought Yanukovych back to power as a stronger-than-before Prime Minister. Yushchenko has lost the respect of his electorate. Despite him being a "nice guy" his political career seems to be on the way out.
It now appears that he was representing someone else’s interests first, the people who stood to gain from Yushchenko coming to power, even if it meant compromising the promises of Maydan, and the will and rights of the people.
On Maydan’s stage, Yushchenko had proclaimed, “The bandits think they will come to power, that they are rooted in Ukraine. We, the people of Ukraine, cannot allow this.” And so the people didn’t. But Yushchenko did allow for it, he chose not to represent the people who put him in the presidency, but the people who had supported and maneuvered him throughout his political career. Plucked from the National Bank of Ukraine by Kuchma, Yushchenko was not a politician of volition. Yushchenko was an economist, from the old system of government, but with western experience. He was chosen to be Prime Minister by Kuchma because of his appeal to westerners and I would also venture to guess because of his malleability.
However, one would think after all the intrigues leading up to Ukraine’s Presidential election, he’d be one vengeful president by the time he got to power, even a transformed person after he was able to ride the orange wave and appear as a Christ figure to millions of Ukrainians who believed that he would bring change to Ukraine.
We know now this was tragically not to be. Yushchenko did nothing to lock away any of the main organizers of falsification, he did nothing to take advantage of the one year of presidential power that he had acquiesced to Parliament. He actually did very little in the first year other than travel around and collect symbolic and financial awards that should have been bestowed upon the Ukrainian people. And much as he collected those representative awards, he must know take responsibility for the current state of affairs.
And what of his current talk of National Unity? It is true that Ukraine is divided, but putting the Donetsk clan in power is not going to seal that divide. Particularly if your only leverage is a paper contract that seems to hold no binding value in Ukraine. (Gas contract? Orange coalition agreement?) These are thugs in suits that control the people’s lives through fear of job loss, intimidation, and aggression. Rewarding these methods with positions in government does not serve for the benefit of the Eastern Ukrainians. What about the Eastern Ukrainians who put their lives on the line standing up to Yanukovych’s goons, who were physically threatened or beaten for wearing orange, how are they supposed to feel now? Betrayed. Apathetic. Disgusted.
The proper method of overcoming the current divisions was with truth and information. Presenting the truth to the masses and welcoming them in. Instead of spending his first year collecting awards that the people deserved, he should have been traveling to Eastern regions of Ukraine, speaking, educating, soothing their fears, and making attempts to win over their support by breaking down the informational wall… proving to them that he is not a fascist and all the other propaganda that has been fed to “Soviet Ukraine” for over a decade.
Due to this negligence, the Party of Regions was able to hold onto their electorate, while Orange became split, with Tymoshenko garnering the Orange crown, she being the only politician who seemed to understand at least the psychological and social impact that the Orange Revolution has had for Ukrainians. There is a “legend” in Ukraine about a woman who will come to power and bring Ukraine to its full potential. Whether Yulia will make that myth reality is unclear, as many criticize her party of clan-like business ties as well. But to date, she has not yielded from her ideals.
Buoyed by the power of the Revolution, Ukraine had the possibility to achieve great things, to ride a wave of enthusiasm no modern country has ever had. It was indeed the best chance Ukraine has had in some 800 years to realize its identity and true potential. Of course now that has been tragically squandered by the Ukrainian ego, and can never be reclaimed. A sad fact that Russia has still not learned, is that it appears that when left to fend for itself, Ukraine does more damage on its own than when united against a common enemy.
Today, we often think of the ‘what could have been?’ but it’s more constructive to look at where we are. The Party of Regions has been playing by the rules, largely because they haven’t had the need to do otherwise. They are certainly posturing in a different way, and until they make a major mistake, Ukrainians must give them a chance to exist in power, as the rules of democracy have given them that opportunity.
Ukraine has certainly changed due to the Orange Revolution. A freer media and strong opposition will help to keep politicians in power in check, or at least make it harder for them to steal. The corruption system that Ukraine functions on is still very much in place, and that won’t go away any time soon. However, truth is slowly being revealed. The people deserved another parliamentary vote, knowing today’s truths about Yushchenko and the Socialists, whose electorate voted for them as part of the Orange camp. If the media can stay fairly independent and show fallacy from both Nasha Ukrayina and Regions, the truth might be illuminated and those who so vehemently supported Yanukovych might also become disenchanted, and the next election would have very different results, hence a healthy democracy at work.
Perhaps the patriots of Ukraine will make their voices heard again… it is their land, there is no other Ukraine, and I don’t believe that they will give up on it. For hundreds of years they haven't, and I hope that they won't stop now. The Russophiles can always head back across the border if they really want to be part of "Mother Russia" so earnestly. Maybe to really have radical change in Ukraine there won’t be a peaceful resolution. Regardless of what might come in the future, there is one factor that consistently gives me faith; the backbone of the Orange Revolution was young people, from Lviv to Herson, from Zaporizya to Harkiv, and even to Donetsk. Today’s Ukrainian youth are very different than Ukraine’s current leaders. Having grown up outside of the Soviet system, they are a different generation, with a alternate mentality.
The vital question now is; will Ukrainians now live a life of apathy and disengagement? Or will they continue to fight for their ideals, for their dreams? I believe this question resonates back in America and all over the globe.
The Orange Revolution chapter in Ukraine’s history is done, and the events of those days will forever be incredible. I feel privileged to have witnessed them and been able to preserve that time within my documentary, to now be able to revisit and educate about Ukraine’s Orange Revolution story. And I have felt the same exasperation, helplessness, and anger about current events as anyone else who is paying attention. I changed my mind about going to Ukraine for Independence Day and attending the Diaspora Forum. In retrospect, I realize that this was a mistake. The people who came out during the Orange Revolution don’t deserve to have their back turned on by us, rather we should honor them. These were Ukrainians ready to die for their country, and their (our?) fight continues on. And that's why I will return to Kyiv for the 2nd anniversary of the Orange Revolution, to honor those people who made the events of the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election very much extra ordinary.
posted by OrangeDoc at 11:03 AM
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