BALTIMORE, Maryland May 28, 2014 - Pro-European Businessman Viktor Poroshenko is the apparent winner of nationwide presidential voting on Sunday in Ukraine. The victory is seen as a stamp of approval for many of the reforms instituted by the interim government in Kiev, which came to power in March when the elected president, Viktor Yanukovych, either addicated or was forced from power by anti-Russian/pro-EU demonstrations, mainly in Kiev but also in other cities. Those demonstrators were part of a movement in Ukraine that came to be called Euromaidan.
Poroshenko apparently has gained more than enough votes to avoid a run-off election on June 15. The marker for avoiding the runoff was 50% of the popular vote. The Ukraine Central Election Commission said that Poroshenko had received some 54.4 of the vote with over 94% of all votes counted. Placing second was former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, with 12.9% of the vote. According to Al Jazeera - and anything from Al Jazeera should be taken bearing in mind the bias of the source, which is admittedly pro-Arab and anti-Jewish - only 7 of 22 registered polling places near Donetsk, in Eastern Ukraine, were up and running Sunday for the vote. The pro-Russian Separatist Movement opposed the elections because they claim their region is no longer part of Ukraine. They say they are a new and Independent Nation called the People's Republic of Donetsk. However, in today's post, Al Jazeera reported on splits amongst the Separatists. One leader, Igor Strelkov, is said to be a Russian agent by authorities in Kiev. Credible and Incisive reported in April that Strelkov was interviewed by a publication in Moscow in April, and in it he conceded that at least half and up to two-thirds of the men in his Separatist unit were actually Russian military people.
Fox News reported late Wednesday morning, EDT, that Separatists in Donetsk have conceded that some of their number are militiamen from Chechnya. There have been continued charges that the Separatists are not mainly from Ukraine. Strelkov's interview with the Russian news site was only one source of those reports. This new admition strengthens those reports, although Putin and his administration have denied again that Russia is involved in any way in the Separatist movements. In March he threatened repeatedly to invade Ukraine if the Kiev government used military force against the Separatists. He has backed off of that in some ways - troops on the coast with Ukraine, once 40,000 strong, are said to be slowly withdrawing - but the reports of infusions of troops, however disguised, strenghtens those reports. One obvious point of conflict, at least publicly, was the leaflet distributed by a Separatist Leader in Donetsk that called for all Jewish people to personally register at one of the government buildings being occupied by the Separatists, and in registering, the Jewish people were also supposed to inventory their assets so that the fine new people running the separatist movement would be aware of them. I'm trying to remember who the last leader was with an idea like that. What was his name?
Jewish leaders were comforted by the vote on Sunday because ultra right wing candidates received so little support. A Jewish publication in New York, Jewish Week, quoted the chairman of the Vaad Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities in Ukraine, Josef Zissels, as saying that "the resounding victory of Poroshenko in just about every region of Ukraine not only eliminated the need for a costly second round but also sends an important message of unity...The failure of the ultranationalists reflects a reality which we have been trying to represent all the time despite Russian propaganda’s attempt to portray Ukrainian society as intolerant."
And the idea that the result would have been dramatically different if the East wasn't in armed rebellion was undercut by polls taken recently by international groups. These polls showed that as much as 70% of Eastern Ukraine Citizens wanted nothing to do with becoming part of Russia or becoming part of a country other than Ukraine. Sometimes in a society the dissatisfied speak up loudly against the powers that be, but can never form a lasting movement of increasing numbers. That, apparently, is the legacy of the Separatists. But that doesn't mean that things won't change if the new government doesn't make changes in the East.
Moscow and its leader, the Strong Man Vladimir Putin, said before the election that it would respect the outcome and work with the new leaders. In the wake of the election, it has yet to say that it recognizes the results or the Poroshenko's incoming leadership.
At the same time that Ukraine elected a new president it also conducted local elections across the country. Parliamentary elections were not held, although some groups urged Poroshenko to dissolve parliament and hold such elections at soon as possible.
The most well-known winner amongst those seeking office in Ukraine was former heavyweight boxing contender Vitali Klitschko. Klitschko has claimed victory in the election for a new Mayor of Kiev, according to Yahoo News. Klitschko's claim is based only on exit polls, however. Those polls showed him with 57% of all votes cast. It is not known when the official results for that job will be revealed. The Mayor of the Ukraine's largest city is recognized as wielding great power in Ukrainian affairs. The 42-year-old athlete is eager for that platform and his opportunity to speak to younger Ukraine voters. He ran on a ticket with Poroshenko.
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