My take on the Parliamentary Elections.

On September 30, I will celebrate my two year anniversary in country, and Ukraine will have it's second parliamentary election in two years on that date. While I certainly don't view myself as an expert in what might happen, here are my views, for what it's worth.

Similar to most parliamentary systems, there are several major parties and many more minor ones. The major ones are the Party of Regions (PR), led by Victor Yanukovych, Our Ukraine (OU), led by Victor Yuschenko, and Byut (B), the Yulia Tymoshenko bloc. OU and B can be categorized as the "Orange" parties, parties that led and benefited from the Orange Revolution of 2004. PR was the big loser in 2004, having "won" the original election, but then losing it through charges of election fraud.

Neither of the three will get enough to govern without forming a coalition. OU and B are ideological partners, sort of, but personality opposites, while PR is ideological opposites from the previous two. PR has their support in the east and south of Ukraine, where the population tends to be more Russian, while the other two garner support from the west of Ukraine, where Ukrainian nationalism is more prevalent.

While PR likes to promote itself as "new and improved", the only real difference from the PR that governed earlier in the decade is the presence of "Image Managers," mostly from the USA. It's the same PR as before, just fancier duds and more democratic talk. Corruption as a way of live is still prevalent here, and PR leads the way in this regard. But it seems that if you want something done here, practicing a little corruption goes a long way.

The best description I've read about OU, one I totally concur with, is "never has so much goodwill been squandered so quickly, with so little results". As the big winner in the Orange Revolution, they could have changed a lot of things, but didn't. In addition, while Victor Yuschenko may be good at running a country, he fails at the most important job a politician has: being a politician.

Then there's Yulia Tymoshenko. She's continually running as a reformist, and compared to the other two, she is. While charges of past corruption continue to follow her, one wonders how much of a reformer she really is, or indeed if she could be one in the first place. Yet, she has set herself apart to some extent from the "business as usual" crowd. That may or may not bode well.

So who one might want to lead the country depends on a number of things. Each candidate has their own peculiar weaknesses, making enthusiastic support difficult. It then comes down to where you stand on certain "big" issues. "Business as usual" or reform. Russian leaning or EU leaning. Pro NATO or anti-NATO.

I cannot vote during this election. If I could, who would I select? Likely, Yulia Tymoshenko and her party. I believe a reformer is still needed to move Ukraine ahead, even if she shows herself to not be that much of a reformer in the end. I believe closer ties to Europe is beneficial for Ukraine, which she supports, but not at the expense of worse ties to Russia, which would likely be the outcome of such closer ties if not handled well. Staying friends with Russia will yield many political and economic benefits in the future, ties people here should not ignore. Her pro-NATO stand is most troubling, though. A pro-NATO stand, while popular with Ukrainian nationalists, would only needlessly antagonize Russia and Ukraine's Russian population and possibly lead to a call by certain factions to split from Ukraine. And that benefits no one.

Technorati Tags: Kiev, Kyiv, Ukraine Politics

Ukraine Poll Could End Orange Revolution.

MOSCOW, Russia -- It was, at least in the eyes of the Russian president, the scene of Vladimir Putin's greatest humiliation. Hundreds of thousands of ordinary Ukrainians massed in central Kiev in late 2004 to protest against a presidential election victory rigged in favour of the pro-Kremlin candidate Viktor Yanukovych.

Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko

After weeks of noisy but peaceful protest, they succeeded. Viktor Yushchenko, the pro-Western reformer, was swept to power amid scenes of unprecedented euphoria.

Almost three years after those heady days, Ukrainians return to the polls next weekend to vote in a parliamentary election.

At stake, their leaders say, is a simple choice: to revive the stalled ideals of the Orange Revolution or to kill it off altogether.

Both Moscow and Washington will be watching closely in a country that remains an important battleground in the growing power clash between the West and a resurgent Russia.

For Ukrainians, however, the optimism engendered by the Orange Revolution has largely been replaced by disillusionment and indifference.

The result of Sunday's poll is likely to be little different to the outcome of the last parliamentary election held 18 months ago.

And again the bitter divisions of Ukraine will be on inglorious display.

Ukrainians in the Russian-speaking industrial heartlands of the east as well as in Crimea in the south will largely vote for the pro-Kremlin Party of the Regions headed by Mr Yanukovych.

His party is expected to become the single largest one in parliament, but will fall short of the overall majority needed to form a government.

This means it will have to enter coalition talks with the two parties in the Orange camp led by the president and his rival, Yulia Tymoshenko.

Mr Yushchenko will then have to appoint either Mr Yanukovych or Mrs Tymoshenko as his prime minister.

He has tried both before. Mrs Tymoshenko served as prime minister for nine acrimonious months in 2005 before the president sacked her amid charges of corruption and divisions over economic policy.

After the last election he turned to his erstwhile rival Mr Yanukovych, whose supporters were accused of slipping dioxin into the president's soup in 2004, leaving his face badly scarred.

Most analysts expect that the president will now turn back to Mrs Tymoshenko, whose bloc is the only party likely to increase its representation in parliament and who this time will be in a stronger position to dictate terms.

She will also be able to use the premiership as a platform to challenge Mr Yushchenko for the presidency in 2009.

Indeed, the glamorous 46-year-old already seems to have the aura of a presidential rather than a prime-ministerial candidate — something demonstrated when she flew to London on Friday for talks with Margaret Thatcher.

A Tymoshenko premiership is also likely to upset Russia. She supports Ukraine's membership of the European Union and NATO and has also been vitriolic in her condemnation of Moscow's interference in Ukraine.

When Mrs Tymoshenko was prime minister in 2005, the Kremlin severed gas supplies to Ukraine, the main energy conduit between Russia and Europe, causing both interruptions and panic in the EU.

Relations improved when Mr Yanukovych was prime minister but some analysts warn of a new gas dispute if Mrs Tymoshenko returns.

Source: The UK Telegraph

Technorati Tags: Kiev, Kiev Life, Ukraine Politics

The Doctor Makes House Calls.

It probably won't surprise anyone when I say that many things here in Ukraine are totally opposite what one would expect in the states. I like to say that under the prior Soviet system, they looked at how things were done in the USA, then made everything as different as possible. I'll address many of those differences in future posts, but for now, lets state that health care here is totally opposite that in the states.

While I'll also go into those differences in the future, one enormous difference is that doctors here will make house calls. Even for routine stuff. On Wednesday this week, I had an appointment at the Boris clinic, one of the clinics favored by foreigners. But that day, my doctor fell I'll and couldn't make the appointment. My wife then arranged for the doctor to come to us for the appointment instead. The problem wasn't of an urgent nature, nor was inability to travel an issue. My wife insisted on the home visit because we had taken two hours out of our day to travel to the appointment, to wait in the waiting area, and to travel back home. But the home appointment wasn't just a courtesy for a broken appointment: I've had home appointments on other occasions.

While I may have had an occasional home appointment as a child in the US, it's save to say that I've had more home appointments in my two years in Kiev than I had in the previous three decades in the USA.

Technorati Tags: Kiev, Kiev Life, Kyiv

September 1 Holiday - "Day of Learning".

September 1st here in Kiev is "unofficially" a holiday. My wife refers to it as "The Day of Learning". What is "The Day of Learning"? It's the day when schools begin again for the fall session. Unlike in the states, here the first day of school is marked by pomp and ceremony. Weather permitting, the whole school gathers outside, where students greet their teachers with flowers, and students starting their first year or entering their last year are greeted. There's the national anthem, lighting the torch of learning, the raising of the flag, and the Procession of Students into their new classrooms.
Clearly, we're no longer in the states.

Before the ceremony: Yes, the flowers are for the teachers.

Carry the Torch and the School Flag:

Ringing in the new year:

The Processional:

Technorati Tags: Kyiv, Day of Learning, Kiev Life, Kiev Photos, Kiev

End of Summer at Pechers'k Landscape Park.

Traditionally, the last week of August brings the end of summer botanical displays at Pechers'k Landscape Park. This year was no different, and like last year, was spectacular.

Here are a few random images:

Technorati Tags: Kiev, Kiev Life, Kiev Photos, Kyiv, Pechers'k Landscape Park, summer

Kiev parliament defies Yushchenko.

Less than two years here, and here's another national election. I'm thinking people are starting to tire of ongoing election cycles and frequent street protests. - Matt

By Roman Olearchyk in Kiev

Updated: 9:11 p.m. ET Sept. 4, 2007

Legislators backing Viktor Yanukovich, Ukraine's premier, on Tuesday raised the stakes in an already tense election campaign by holding a session of parliament of questionable legitimacy.

This act of defiance is expected to test the nerves of Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine's pro-western president, who dissolved parliament in the spring, setting the stage for elections.

A group of 269 legislators backing Mr Yanukovich's coalition government gathered in parliament on Tuesday. They passed two laws, accused the president of illegally dissolving parliament and pledged to keep the legislature open ahead of the September 30 vote. Ukraine's vague legislation does not clearly specify whether parliament should immediately close when dissolved, or serve until new legislators are elected.

Political analysts in Kiev said the reopening of parliament would provide Mr Yanukovich's allies with a bully pulpit for rallying voter support.

It could also complicate preparations for an election that will gauge how far Kiev's fragile democracy has matured since the Orange Revolution, when street protests against election fraud propelled Mr Yushchenko to the presidency over Mr Yanukovich.

Mr Yushchenko is unlikely forcefully to shut down parliament. Doing so could spark rallies backing his foe and complicate election preparations. In a televised address to the nation, aired the night before the extraordinary parliament session, Mr Yushchenko said: "The driving force of this provocation is a desire to sabotage the elections.

"It is motivated by the fear of losing power. Any decision by this parliament will not be legitimate," the president said, stressing that elections would proceed on schedule.

Government officials this week said elections could be cancelled if the parliament functioned stably.

Mr Yanukovich called for calm. "We do not seek destabilisation of the election campaign," he said. "A functioning parliament does not entail any risk to the stability of the country."

After losing the presidential contest in 2004, Mr Yanukovich returned as prime minister last summer after an inconclusive parliamentary poll. Both leaders have since been locked in a battle for authority.

Mr Yushchenko convinced Mr Yanukovich to accept early elections this summer after their spat escalated into a constitutional crisis.

Copyright The Financial Times Ltd. All rights reserved.

From MSNBC.

Technorati Tags: Kiev Life, Kyiv, Kiev, Ukraine Politics