Yanukovich, Yushchenko debate

[Said1]

Yanukovich turns on Kuchma in anti-west outburst
By Tom Warner in Sevastopol
Published: December 21 2004 02:00 | Last updated: December 21 2004 02:00

Viktor Yanukovich, Ukrainian prime minister, yesterday positioned himself as radically anti-western, accusing Leonid Kuchma, the outgoing president who supported him in last month's failed election, of betraying him and Ukraine to foreign interests.

Speaking in a televised debate ahead of fresh presidential elections on Sunday, he told Viktor Yushchenko, the opposition leader: "I'm against you [Mr Yushchenko and Mr Kuchma] uniting and teaching Ukrainians how to live with help from za bugra, he said using a coarse expression for "abroad".

Accused by Mr Yushchenko of mismanaging the economy, Mr Yanukovich also claimed that foreign election observers had interfered in the recent political crisis by funding street demonstrations.

The highly emotional exchange contrasted sharply with a carefully managed "debate" held before the previous election. In that exercise, the two candidates were restricted to taking turns making speeches and were not allowed to ask each other questions.

In spite of Mr Yanukovich's hard-hitting tone, it was Mr Yushchenko who appeared the more confident of the two last night.

Mr Yanukovich, who was declared the winner of what was supposed to be the final round of the presidential elections last month, is expected to do significantly less well in this Sunday's repeat vote.

The Supreme Court ordered the repeat vote after ruling that last month's election was spoiled by systematic fraud.

The anger expressed by Mr Yanukovich in last night's debate echoed the heightened emotion of campaigning in the southern and eastern regions, which supported him last time but now appear more divided.

In Sevastopol, the Crimean city that hosts the main base of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, a St Nicholas day religious procession turned violent on Sunday.

A small group of Mr Yanukovich's supporters who had marched in the procession split off and began waving their blue-and-white Yanukovich banners in front of passing cars. Eyewitnesses said that when a few cars decorated in the orange colour of Mr Yushchenko's campaign approached, they were attacked by Yanukovich supporters.

"Unfortunately, what happened here on Sunday was part of a clear trend," said Timofey Nikityuk, head of the local branch of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, a domestic election observer group. "Campaigning [for the repeat election] has been much more aggressive than it was before previous rounds."

The residents of Sevastopol were among the most disappointed when Mr Yanukovich's win was annulled. According to the official results, Mr Yanukovich won more than 88 per cent of the city's votes, and Mr Yushchenko's campaign team acknowledges that it will lose in the city even if the election is fair.

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[dilloduck]

Article

HEY--good old fashioned western party politics !!! and they already figured out the ballot stuffing trick!!

 

[CSM]

Now you know what happened to all the consultants for the DNC after the election!

 

[Said1]

HEY--good old fashioned western party politics !!! and they already figured out the ballot stuffing trick!!

I know, the drama is addictive.

 

[NATO AIR]

all jokes aside........

democrat & republican analysts and experts and even ol George Soros himself are working together to help Yushchenko win a fair, free election (basically what they did the first time, only czar putin's folks rigged the damn thing)

as far as yushchenko, can we get some retired secret service folks to watch him? as musicman (where the hell is he by the way, he's missed 'round here) said, he has about as much as a chance to live as someone with dirt on the clintons...

 

[Zhukov]

No. It's too late.

He's going to win and there's nothing they can do about it. Hundreds of thousands of people protested, and most police migrated to the protesters' side.

The pro-Russian forces missed their chance; not enough poison. If they kill him now, they're screwed, and they know it.

 

[NATO AIR]

No. It's too late.

He's going to win and there's nothing they can do about it. Hundreds of thousands of people protested, and most police migrated to the protesters' side.

The pro-Russian forces missed their chance; not enough poison. If they kill him now, they're screwed, and they know it.

we shall see what the czar does

 

[Zhukov]

we shall see what the czar does

Oh, he'd be insane to do something now. He's in the middle of keeping what few chips he has left and stepping away from the table as we speak.

If anything did happen it would be entirely without his consent.

Putin softens stance on Ukraine

From Tribune News Services
Published December 22, 2004

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who openly backed Viktor Yushchenko's rival for president of the Ukraine, said Tuesday that he could work with an administration headed by the pro-Western candidate.

"We have worked with him already and the cooperation was not bad," Putin said during a visit to Germany. "If he wins, I don't see any problems."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...,1,6972039.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed

 

[NATO AIR]

Oh, he'd be insane to do something now. He's in the middle of keeping what few chips he has left and stepping away from the table as we speak.

If anything did happen it would be entirely without his consent.



http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...,1,6972039.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed

i want to believe that but putin has a nasty habit of doing the exact opposite of whatever he promises publicly

 

[Zhukov]

Putin will certainly do whatever he can to obstruct and frustrate any efforts Yushenko might make to reach out to the west.

I'm just saying it's too late to kill him, and Putin isn't even bothering to pretend his man still has a chance.