5 Reasons Why Leftists Should Defend Russia | New Eastern Outlook

[Tommy_Carcetti]

190. There was no way around the issue, though.

After Yanukovych left the country, Ukraine needed a new president. Otherwise, the false concerns raised by Russia and opponents of Maidan--that the current interim government was somehow "illegitimate"--would become not so false.

On the other hand, they couldn't just hold new elections the next day--the logistics would not allow for it. So elections were scheduled for late May 2014. Unfortunately, within that three month period, you had Crimea and then the uprising in the east. So by the time elections came around, you had large portions of territory controlled by people who refused to recognize their own government and certainly had no interest in facilitating elections. Interestingly enough, they actually did attempt to send election equipment to Donetsk, although one has to wonder how optimistic they were that they'd ever get a vote. A good video and write-up from Vice on the topic:

https://news.vice.com/video/bullets-not-ballots-in-donetsk-russian-roulette-dispatch-42

Almost 6 months after the Euromaidan revolution that toppled former president Viktor Yanukovych, Ukrainians went to the polls to elect a new president in the midst of an anti-terror operation to wrestle Donetsk and Lugansk oblasts back under Kiev's control. The separatists of the Donetsk People's Republic openly threatened the election in the region and had stormed a number of electoral commissions and intimidated electoral workers. In response the Ukrainian military alongside its paramilitary proxies have been working to secure towns across Donetsk to ensure a safe election took place.

On Sunday morning as voting started across the country, Donetsk itself saw no voting take place so VICE News headed out to Krasnoarmiisk where voting was able to take place, under the watchful eye of local loyal-to-Kiev police and another paramilitary force, the Dinipro Battalion. Back in Donetsk, supporters of the DPR held a rally in the square, denouncing the election and the other DPR bugbears, NATO, the Kiev 'junta' and the US. Despite the threats, the election did take place in a few towns across the region and the fact that it took place at all seemingly threatens the advertised control of the region by the DPR.

The parliamentary elections, while not required (the Ukrainian parliament was never disbanded, another fact frequently left out by individuals claiming a "coup" had taken place in the country) was still a wise course of action, given that the existing Parliament had experienced a shake up in the wake of Yanukovych and multiple members of the then-ruling coalition leaving the country or switching parties. So a fresh start wasn't the worst of ideas (and the elections ultimately did serve to jettison some of the more controversial ultra-nationalist elements from the ruling coalition). Of course, the situation in the east was even worse in September than it was in May, so voting in those areas was again problematic. But again, it's a bit of a rock-and-a-hard-place dilemma. Either not hold elections while a portion of the country remains in chaos, or hold elections to the best extent possible. The latter was the far better choice. Ukraine would not have been served well with an indefinite interim tag in its government.

As for the so-called "self-rule" referendum, lack of legitimate international observers was only one of several problems. Ballots were not verifiable, there was no up-to-date voting rolls, and polling locations were themselves limited. While turnout itself did not appear to have been disrupted, it's completely unclear how many people in that region chose to vote, given that the vote was being hosted by an entity not recognized internationally as a legitimate power.

I will certainly agree with you though that corruption remains a problem in Ukraine, and that the problem of corruption did not end simply after Yanukovych left. I think much of the military's struggles to this point can be attributed to corruption and decay in government, and I think the country has a long ways to go to rid itself of those troubling and chronic concerns.