Replies to post #2483 on Foreign Correspondence

[CoalTrain]

SO let me get this straight...

Yushchenko did not give details of what was discussed in the talks at the ornate Mariinsky presidential palace, but he told tens of thousands of his supporters in Independence Square shortly afterward that his side was insisting on a rerun of the voting, which he said he wanted to be held Dec. 12 under the observation of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.


He wants the OSCE to be "in charge" of the elections? To be the observing body with the last word?

Here is my own personal experience with the OSCE:

I was staying in Slovakia with some friends who are some of the most politically astute people I know. Unlike Hungary which bought the EU non sense hook line and sinker many Slovaks were aware that it was a very bad deal for Slovakia in anything but the very short term. The best opposition strategy to joining the Eu was for people not to vote in the EU issue as it is part of the Slovak constitution that %50 of the people have to vote to make any vote legally binding. After two days of voting only %48 of the people had voted. Mysteriously in the last hour and a half %2 of the population showed up and voted for EU entry. There were accusations of numerous voting irregularities. The media more less blacked it out and between the language barrier and Slovakia being a tiny country the outside world took no interest. The folks overseeing the elections ( including the OSCE ) said a few token things on election night but did not do squat in the way of any meaningful investigations. OSCE is a rubber stamp for Brussels and the Bundesbank.

I believe in civil disobedience. I think we here in America are failing democracy by not engage in huge amounts of it at this time in history. However now that it would seem that what Yushchenko wants is a large mob to give him the right to have OSCE hand the election to him and Brussels on a silver platter my skepticism of him has jumped up and order of magnitude. Make that two orders of magnitude.

[Amaunet]

Ukraine Parliament Calls Election Invalid

Updated 9:51 AM ET November 27, 2004

Ukraine's parliament on Saturday declared invalid the disputed presidential election that triggered a week of growing street protests and legal maneuvers, raising the possibility that a new vote could be held in this former Soviet republic.

Parliament's vote came amid a flurry of domestic and international support for the possibility of a revote. A European Union envoy Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot said new elections were the "ideal outcome" for the standoff between Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and Viktor Yushchenko. Asked if new elections were the only solution, Ben Bot answered: "Yes."

The Unian news agency quoted Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko as saying Friday that Moscow regarded a potential revote favorably an apparent significant retreat from its earlier insistence that the Nov. 21 elections were fair and valid.

Parliament's move was not legally binding but clearly demonstrated rising dissatisfaction with the announced outcome. The United States and other Western nations contend the vote was marred by massive fraud.

The presidential election was won by the Russia-backed Yanukovych, according to the Central Elections Commission, but Yushchenko's supporters streamed into the streets, claiming he was cheated out of victory. The Supreme Court will hear an appeal by Yushchenko's supporters on Monday, and Yanukovych will not be inaugurated before that appeal is decided.

Regional courts also are considering some 11,000 complaints from both sides about alleged voting fraud.

"The most realistic political decision, taking into account the mutual claims of massive violations, is to pronounce the elections invalid," parliament speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn said.

Parliament's decision is not binding without President Leonid Kuchma's endorsement. The vote came as negotiators from both candidates' camps were expected to meet for talks in a format worked out with European envoys a day earlier.

Also, parliament Saturday passed a vote of no confidence in the elections commission, which also has no legal ramifications but steps up pressure on Yanukovych and his supporters.



http://dailynews.att.net/cgi-bin/news?e=pri&dt=041127&cat=frontpage&st=frontpageap200411...