Publius Pundit: Putin Lashes Out Against Tymoshenko Archive

Removing all doubt as to who the winner of the Ukrainian parliamentary elections was, Vladimir Putin's Kremlin lashed out against the democrats yesterday in a fit of hysterical, barbaric rage -- illustrating once again the cowardly Putin's fundamental maxim of cosa nostra governance: "If you can't beat 'em, kill 'em."

As the Moscow Times reported: "[State-owned energy monopoly] Gazprom on Tuesday threatened to reduce gas supplies to Ukraine if it did not receive $1.3 billion it is owed, just as it was looking more likely that Western-leaning Yulia Tymoshenko would become Ukraine's next prime minister." The Kremlin's stooges in Ukraine explained: "Volodymyr Bronnikov, a parliament member with the Party of the Regions, said a price hike from Gazprom could come in response to an attempt by Tymoshenko to move Ukraine closer to the West. 'If Ukraine is an ordinary European country, then it must pay ordinary European prices for gas,' Bronnikov said."

These crude, neo-Soviet threats can only serve to convince Ukraine's democrats that Russia is a bloodthirsty enemy with whom cooperation is simply impossible. The Kremlin's action should also be a wakeup call to NATO that urgent action is necessary to assure Ukraine's security.

As of now, according to Ukraine's Central Election Commission, 99.44% of the ballots in the parliamentary poll have been counted. Here's an overview of the results:

Roughly 20.5 million Ukrainians cast their votes for one of the five parties which collected more than a 3% share of all votes cast, thereby earning a share of the open seats in the parliament, about 55% of the 37 million eligible to vote in a country of about 45 million. An additional 1.6 million split their votes between another 15 minor parties and about half a million went to the polls to vote "against all" the alternatives, for a total turnout of about 22.5 million or 61%. For some contrast, in 1992 when Bill Clinton was elected president for the first time, only 55% of eligible Americans went to the polls and Clinton collected only 43% of votes cast. Had 1992's presidential ballot in the U.S. been a parliamentary election under Ukrainian rules, H. Ross Perot's party would have been awarded 19% of the U.S. Congress and Perot, by forging an alliance with either the Democrats or the Republicans, would have decided who ruled the country.

Russian lackey Victor Yanukovich's party received the most votes, 34.28% of the total (7.9 million votes). His communist allies raked in 5.38% (1.2 million), giving his sordid pro-Russia coalition 39.66% of the electoral support.

The pro-Western Orange Coalition totaled 44.97% (10.4 million votes total). Julia Tymoshenko's party dominated their results, improving dramatically on its performance in the last election and taking 30.77% of all votes cast (7.1 million) -- assuring her the prime ministry of the country, much to the Kremlin's chagrin (she's shown above speaking to a rapt group of reporters). One of the most glamorous and vivacious politicians in the world today, Tymoshenko is positioned to lead her country into a new era. Victor Yushchenko's party earned 14.20% of the votes (3.3 million).

In other words, a decisive victory of well over 1 million votes for the pro-West, pro-democracy side and a cold slap in the face to the Kremlin. When comparing the results just between the three major parties, the desire of the Ukrainian people to reject enslavement by Moscow is absolutely clear, the victory of the Orange forces is simply overwhelming (a massive 25% margin). But for the communists, convicted criminal Yanukovich is non-competitive -- and needing their support is a telling indicator of the viability of the pro-Russia side. The Kremlin is, of course, beside itself. As the AFP reported: "Moscow has been at odds with Yushchenko and Tymoshenko ever since the Orange Revolution, a major defeat for Russian foreign policy, when Yanukovych was forced to rerun his rigged presidential election win."

Hence, the Kremlin's pathetic, barbaric threats to turn the lights off in Ukraine. Let's not forget that the first time it was seriously threatened, by Yushchenko, it adopted the Litvinenko solution and simply tried to liquidate the opposition by poisoning Yuschenko with Dioxin. It's time for NATO to reach out and protect Ukraine as it struggles to free itself from the Russian yoke of imperialism, time to stand up for democracy and avoid moving down the road that led to World War II. It's worth pointing out, too, that the only reason Ukraine is behind in its gas bills is that it has been made feeble by nearly a century of Russian/Soviet oppression, including genocide. Perhaps its time to discuss financial reparations Russia needs to make before dealing with the gas bill?

Urkaine's version of Perot-as-kingmaker in this ballot is a fellow named Volodymyr Lytvyn, whose eponymous party achieved the lowest vote total in the group earning seats in the parliament -- 3.96% of the total or about 900,000 votes. He does not have enough votes to put Yanukovich on top, but he can solidify the Orange group if he chooses to join it and create a razor-thin parliamentary split if he sides with Russia.

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