Reaffirming my Pessimistic View
is someone who evidently knows a hell of a lot more about the situation than I do:
Kataryna Wolczuk, a Ukraine analyst at Britain's University of Birmingham, says the opposition faces a dilemma.
"This is really a no-win situation for the opposition because either they will get the guarantees [that will ensure a clean vote] but the presidency will be significantly weakened and power will be shifted to the parliament and prime minister, or they won't have the guarantees and they won't be reassured that what happened on 21 November won't be repeated on 26 December," Wolczuk said.
Under Ukraine's current constitution, it is up to the president to nominate members of the election commission, for parliament's approval. Without Kuchma's cooperation, Wolczuk says that Yushchenko risks going into the election facing the same rigged process that defeated him the last time.
The whole article is a worthwhile read as a summary of the situation as it currently stands. It's also the first I have seen in the "real media" of the suggestion that Yanukovich may drop out, thus forcing Yushchenko to gather a majority (50%+) rather than simply the plurality of the votes in the revote December 26th. Something I first heard about from Discoshaman. So for now, I remain convinced that the powers of "status quo" have the upper hand. Not a stranglehold, mind you, but still the upper hand.
On another note, I am bidding on this here painting on ebay:
Feel free to outbid me (if you are quick) - the proceeds go to Maidan's efforts.
Kataryna Wolczuk, a Ukraine analyst at Britain's University of Birmingham, says the opposition faces a dilemma.
"This is really a no-win situation for the opposition because either they will get the guarantees [that will ensure a clean vote] but the presidency will be significantly weakened and power will be shifted to the parliament and prime minister, or they won't have the guarantees and they won't be reassured that what happened on 21 November won't be repeated on 26 December," Wolczuk said.
Under Ukraine's current constitution, it is up to the president to nominate members of the election commission, for parliament's approval. Without Kuchma's cooperation, Wolczuk says that Yushchenko risks going into the election facing the same rigged process that defeated him the last time.
The whole article is a worthwhile read as a summary of the situation as it currently stands. It's also the first I have seen in the "real media" of the suggestion that Yanukovich may drop out, thus forcing Yushchenko to gather a majority (50%+) rather than simply the plurality of the votes in the revote December 26th. Something I first heard about from Discoshaman. So for now, I remain convinced that the powers of "status quo" have the upper hand. Not a stranglehold, mind you, but still the upper hand.
On another note, I am bidding on this here painting on ebay:
Feel free to outbid me (if you are quick) - the proceeds go to Maidan's efforts.
posted by soulpole66 at 6:16 PM
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