Saturday, September 10, 2005

The PM speaks

Notwithstanding the article lede BBC NEWS World Europe Ukrainian ex-PM slams dismissal, this was more in line with what I heard last night:

But on Friday Ms Tymoshenko distanced herself from Mr Yushchenko, who has pledged to root out corruption.

"Today we are two different teams," she said. "I think these two teams will go their own way.

"I will not go to the elections with those people who have discredited Ukraine so much. I do not mean the president, but his closest circle," she said.

She of course did say that Yuschenko had


"practically ruined our unity, our future, the future of the country," and added: "I think this step is absolutely illogical."

But most of what I heard was more conciliatory than that. She said that they were two different teams but that they would be moving in the same direction. Nothing I heard would put her in the opposition against Yuschenko. I suspect she is, but she is not firing the broadsides some of the articles say she is. She was measured and seemed to me to want to put together some kind of vision for Ukraine-- the vision thing. The campaign started last night.

But there was really no attack on Yuschenko that I could see. She will probably be drawn into it later but for now it looks like no.

One thing I have read that is simply not the case is that she was the one who drew the crowds to the square. What brought people down there is a complex thing. Pora was involved initially and word of mouth drew thousands downtown. The immediate cause was the stolen election. What caused them to stay downtown was a combination of a lot of things which included Tymoshenko. But I would not underlvalue what Yuschenko brought and the influence he had on the crowds. That influence was real some of which I noted here. And I think it was his measured response and a certain magnanimity he showed toward those who came to support Yanukovych that helped to prevent any bloodshed and to save people's lives. That set the tone for the revolution.

Anyway, as things stand now, a soft toned Tymoshenko, Yuschenko re-grouping but actually looking stronger, the dollar up slightly against the hryvna, the sun still shining over Ukraine, or at least until a few minutes ago and the press milking this around the world with headlines that suggest reversal, collapse and/or doom. Some things new and some old.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting post. Cool that you mentioned Yushchenko's magnanimity - which was great.

I remember that Tymoshenko got slammed for some inflammatory remarks which she made which were anti-RU and later I believe she toned that part down. But she definitely gained in popularity because of her dynamic and energenizing speeches. The no. of flags rep. her political party were way outnumbered by Tak flags. What say you?

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