Maybe new democracies get democracy better than old ones? From AP:
Ukraine's opposition leader and his American-born wife led tens of thousands of supporters in a march on parliament Tuesday to demand the government annul the results of the country's contested presidential election.I've been alive longer then Ukraine has been a democracy - why do they get a rebirth and I'm stuck in the stale, musty American democracy?
The Ukrainian Election Commission's announcement that Kremlin-backed Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych was ahead of Western-leaning candidate Viktor Yushchenko with nearly all the votes counted dismayed — and angered — many of the former Soviet republic's 48 million people.
Yushchenko on Tuesday claimed victory and asked for international recognition. He also announced a campaign of civil disobedience and alleged official fraud.
"We appeal to the parliaments and nations of the world to bolster the will of the Ukrainian people, to support their aspiration to return to democracy," a statement from Yuschenko's campaign office said.
He called on an estimated crowd of 200,000 supporters camped at the central Independence Square to walk to the parliament building ahead of an emergency session called to consider both annulling the official results and a no-confidence vote in the election commission.
Shortly thereafter, Yushchenko and his American-born wife, Kateryna Chumachenko, led the throng toward parliament.
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If the parliament doesn't take action to solve the crisis, "we will have no choice but to block roads, airports, seize city halls," said Yuliya Tymoshenko, a prominent opposition leader and Yushchenko's ally.
Special forces were deployed near the Central Election Commission, the presidential administration and other government buildings, but police stayed away from the protesters jamming the city's main avenue for a second day. The supporters clogged the city and turned sidewalks into seas of orange, Yushchenko's campaign color. (Rob's Note: Ah, to have seen a sea of blue in Washington after this election would have been nice.))
Mykola Tomenko, a lawmaker and Yushchenko ally, told the crowd that some police had joined the opposition, though it was impossible to independently verify the claim. The Interfax news agency reported that in Lviv, Yushchenko's stronghold in western Ukraine, about 20 police guarding a regional Interior Ministry building wore orange armbands.
Although official results, with more than 99 percent of precincts counted, showed Yanukovych leading with 49.42 percent to his challenger's 46.70 percent, several exit polls had found Yushchenko the winner, one by a margin of 11 percentage points.
Yushchenko's supporters set up rows of tents awash with orange on Kiev's main artery, and they pledged to maintain their vigil until Yushchenko is declared president, raising fears of civil unrest in this nation of 48 million. Speakers rallied the crowd from a stage on Independence Square, leading them in chants of "Yushchenko! Yushchenko!"
"We have to rise up from our knees," said Lidiya Arnoldovna, an elderly woman wearing an orange armband. "These past few days I have really lived. I couldn't just sit at home."
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Braving freezing temperatures, Ukrainians brought old coats, sweaters and blankets to the square in central Kiev, as well as food and hot drinks. The tent city even generated its own one-page newspaper, which was being handed out to supporters.
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Observers working with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said extensive indications of voting fraud were found, including people apparently voting multiple times and voters being forced to turn over their absentee ballots to state employers.
Dmytro Schwartz, 70, a retired schoolteacher, came to Independence Square with his 11-year-old grandson, David.
"This is Ukraine's rebirth, and you should remember that," Schwartz told the boy.
