Yanukovych and Kuchma try the Goreploy

By Aussiegirl

Thanks for BonnieBlueflag who has done yoewoman work on the post just below to keep us all up to date on the situation in Ukraine.

Reuters -- http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6943582

-- reporting that Yanukovych will agree to a revote in the two most disputed areas (the ones he controls) to settle the election mess. This is a non-starter and another Goreploy to cherry-pick favorable votes for himself, just like Gore wanting a recount in only Broward and Palm Beach counties. You can't say the Yanukovich/Kuchma/Putin gang haven't learned their lessons well from the democrat apparatchiks in this country. But just like in this country, that is not going to fly.

Also as BonnieB. reported, the idea of a new election which will be open to all candidates is also simply a stalling tactic and red herring. This would be completely chaotic as the Kuchma forces would simply cloud the issue with dozens of new candidates and hope to set up somebody other than Yanukovych as the Kuchma/Putin stooge for an eventual run-off election with Yushchenko. One thing Ukaine has no shortage of is parties. There has already been such an election, and the latest election, which is currently in dispute, was the runoff between the two largest vote getters, Pro-Western Yuschenko and Kuchma/Putin stooge Yanukovich.

The talks seem to be in a stalled situation with the Yushchenko forces pushing for a new election but with many safeguards to protect against the massive fraud that occurred in the first one. Most likely the other side will not agree to all these conditions, which include the absence of absentee ballots (a huge source of the fraud in the first go-round), and a completely new Election Commission composed of 50/50 representatives of both sides, among other demands to ensure fairness.

I doubt that much will happen until the Supreme Court issues its ruling. A vote by the Parliament of no-confidence is a distinct possibility as more and more members have been switching their allegiance from Yanukovich to Yushchenko. The tide is very much in favor of the pro-democracy forces I believe, but the government still controls many levers of power, and the presence of Russian troops on Ukrainian soil (most likely dressed as Ukrainian troops) is still a sword hanging over the process. They may attempt to do what the Chinese did in Tiananmen Square. There they brought in troops from very distant regions who knew nothing of what had been going on, and they filled their heads with lies and propaganda about how these "enemies of the people" were staging a violent revolution that needed to be put down. The same can be done in Ukraine - Russian troops dressed as Ukrainian forces will use some excuse (they can cause a provocation and will try) to use force to disperse the crowds. Kuchma's talk about how these blockades are illegal is just code for an excuse to use force. The situation is obviously tense. We wait and hope.