A Sad Day
Today was a sad day. In Minsk, Byelorussia, a peaceful demonstration of several thousand people was rather violently broken up by riot police and hundreds were arrested. Byelorussia is run by a dictator and the protests concerned the recent presidential election there. Something similar happened in Ukraine in 2004 but fortunately, it was not broken up and the election results were overturned. The election we are having this Sunday and the heated campaigning--all good signs of a growing, real democracy--are a direct result of our Orange Revolution. But the Red and White revolution will have to wait in Minsk. Lukashenko is ruthless and has a strong hold on the nation. And more importantly, he has the support of Putin who provides economic support and low gas prices to Byelorussia.
We also went to Zhytomir today to remember the death of Lena's grandmother who died one year ago. A traditional meal is eaten together with family and friends. Lena's mom had been cooking since Thursday. The meal began by everyone eating a little of a cold rice and raising dish preceded by the saying of the Lord's Prayer, though probably half the people there were atheists. After saying some nice words about the need to remember the babushka, conversation quickly moved to politics and eating. Lots of food. Lots. And lots of odd political comments. Lena's dad is a socialist and plans to be an election worker. He, at one point, got out all the official posters for many of the campaigns and was telling everyone about who is running. Some at the table supported the Communists. One lady kept saying her 6-year-old granddaughter was planning to vote for Tymoshenko that I have blogged about earlier. Others began to reminisce about how great Stalin was. One lady said she liked Brezhnyev because no matter what happened, Brezhnyev always got 84.2% of the vote--in every election. After the old neighbors left, others began to express their opinion that they were mostly for the president or the western-leaning parties. I think Lena's mom is still debating whom to vote for. She even asked what I thought about it. As long as you don't vote for the Communists or the Party of the Regions or Not Yes or Vitrenko, then mostly you will be OK. There are 45 choices.
Polls open at about 7 AM on Sunday and will close at 10. The Central Election Commission plans to announce the winners of the parliament first, or at least report the results first. It's going to be fun and I guess I will stay up late into the night. For all blocs or parties that get more than 3% of the national vote, they will get a one or more seats in the Verkhovna Rada, the parliament. Instead of the complicated arrangement that existed before--which I never could figure out--the seats will be assigned based solely on the national vote. So every vote counts unlike in the crazy US with the electoral college. This election is so important because the new prime minister will be chosen by the Rada. Kyiv may also get a new mayor.
We also went to Zhytomir today to remember the death of Lena's grandmother who died one year ago. A traditional meal is eaten together with family and friends. Lena's mom had been cooking since Thursday. The meal began by everyone eating a little of a cold rice and raising dish preceded by the saying of the Lord's Prayer, though probably half the people there were atheists. After saying some nice words about the need to remember the babushka, conversation quickly moved to politics and eating. Lots of food. Lots. And lots of odd political comments. Lena's dad is a socialist and plans to be an election worker. He, at one point, got out all the official posters for many of the campaigns and was telling everyone about who is running. Some at the table supported the Communists. One lady kept saying her 6-year-old granddaughter was planning to vote for Tymoshenko that I have blogged about earlier. Others began to reminisce about how great Stalin was. One lady said she liked Brezhnyev because no matter what happened, Brezhnyev always got 84.2% of the vote--in every election. After the old neighbors left, others began to express their opinion that they were mostly for the president or the western-leaning parties. I think Lena's mom is still debating whom to vote for. She even asked what I thought about it. As long as you don't vote for the Communists or the Party of the Regions or Not Yes or Vitrenko, then mostly you will be OK. There are 45 choices.
Polls open at about 7 AM on Sunday and will close at 10. The Central Election Commission plans to announce the winners of the parliament first, or at least report the results first. It's going to be fun and I guess I will stay up late into the night. For all blocs or parties that get more than 3% of the national vote, they will get a one or more seats in the Verkhovna Rada, the parliament. Instead of the complicated arrangement that existed before--which I never could figure out--the seats will be assigned based solely on the national vote. So every vote counts unlike in the crazy US with the electoral college. This election is so important because the new prime minister will be chosen by the Rada. Kyiv may also get a new mayor.
posted by Kyivmission at 12:46 AM
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