Today marks the 100th day in office fr Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko:

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukraine’s pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko on Tuesday marked his first 100 days in office, saying his government remained on track to fulfil the demands of protesters who helped propel him to power.

“We haven’t betrayed any of the slogans from Independence Square,” Yushchenko said, referring to the Kyiv city square that became the nerve centre of the popular uprising last year that became known as the “Orange Revolution.”

Yushchenko has said that fighting poverty remains his top goal. His presidency so far has brought an increase in pensions and raised Ukraine’s international profile, but Ukrainians are also grumbling over economic decisions – such as the strengthening of the hryvna against the dollar – that are hurting their pocketbooks and raising inflation.

The new opposition, which remains weak and unorganized, has accused the government of political persecution, citing officials’ use of media to publicly summon members of the old guard in for questioning.

But public confidence – and hope – in Yushchenko remains high. A recent opinion poll by the Democratic Initiatives Foundation found that Yushchenko still enjoys a 60 per cent approval rating.

Russian Duma member Konstantin Kosachev noted Yushchenko’s laudable ability to let bygones be bygones after his victory, but felt the need for some needling:

This page in bilateral relations has been turned over and can no longer bring any pressure to bear upon bilateral cooperation. This is evidence of political wisdom shown by the new government, said the MP.

He added however that Russia was concerned over the violation of political rights of the defeated side (allies of former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich who ran against Yushchenko at the recent elections) in Ukraine and over the signs of revenge being taken against it by the Ukrainian authorities.

A Russia-compiled relevant resolution has been already submitted for PACE consideration and approved by five countries. It says in part that the rights of the opposition are being infringed on in Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrghystan, following the “color” revolutions, said Kosachev.

Russia is also anxious about the intention by Ukrainian government to deprivatize the earlier-privatized companies, the more so as not all the cases are connected with the violation of Ukrainian law. “We have learnt that there are tens of thousands of such rulings on revision of privatization transactions,” he added.

Besides, said Kosachev, despite quite a constructive dialogue being conducted by the Ukrainian government with big Russian business, we see that their words are not turning into acts. “Actually, we see a kind of administrative pressure on Russian business in Ukraine, said the MP. He admitted he was waiting for some breakthroughs that have not yet taken place. This concerns above all Ukraine’s unclarified position toward the establishment of a common economic space with Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.

I love the crack about the violation of political rights. This is like Keith Moon complaining about the noise coming from the neighbor’s house. (For you youngins, Moon used to play a music called Rock & Roll).

By no means has Yushchenko been given a free ride. I noted earlier that some editorialist are not happy with the lack of progress on many counts:

Look what happened in Poland in its first 100 days after its revolution. On Sept. 12, 1989, after the Round Table talks and free elections, Solidarity became the dominant party in the Polish parliament. A month later, they declared they would phase out the Soviet-style economy and adopt capitalism as soon as possible. On Jan. 1, 1990, the new program was implemented and price controls on all products were lifted.

Or take Franklin Delano Roosevelt after his election to the U.S presidency in the midst of the Great Depression. Roosevelt got Congress to pass 15 major bills, massively reforming the American economy.

The opposition is now more openly calling for Yushchenko’s impeachment:

“Yushchenko’s actions, behavior and a number of statements raise doubts about his ability to perform his duties due to poor health,” Oleksandr Hryakov, head of the Union of Small and Medium-Scale Entrepreneurs and Artisans of the Donetsk Region, told reporters in Kyiv on Thursday.

The movement intends to ask Ukrainian parliament speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn to put to Verhovna Rada the issue of a filing complaint with the Supreme Court about Yushchenko’s inability to perform his presidential duties due to health problems.

For Ukraine Without Yushchenko! also demands open parliamentary hearings into Yushchenko’s poisoning, the publication of conclusions by a corresponding deputy commission, and a report from the country’s Attorney General about the course of the investigation into the case.

There is considerable consternation with the new president’s performance, not the least of which is his propensity for making statements that he later must retract. Remember that soon after taking office he declared the Gongadze murder to be “solved” before all the suspects were in custody. Still, there are many reasons to be greatful that this Viktor was the victor. In a very good post on the start-stop personality of the Yushchenko Administration, Dan McMinn notes that the the president has a lot to deal with and is making some inroads:

Now, on the positive side, I am greatly encouraged by the fight with corruption. (I’m not entirely sure about the solidity of this material, because it is coming from Ukrainskaya Pravda, but they have a two part series, part one here,part two here, on massive embezzlment of oil and gas money under Kuchma. That should give you an idea of the scale of the problem.)

I trust this government to want to reform, fight corruption, and, most importantly here, be transparent. Increased transparency is one of Yushchenko’s campaign promises (as are the other two).

Well, part of being transparent is not just telling people what you are doing, but also what you are going to do, and doing so well in advance.

This is a national problem, in a nation with no really good translation of the words “Mission Statement”. Not just the government, but many, many organizations here change things without warning, leaving people scrabbling to catch up. It would be fine display of transparency if the government took the lead in fixing this problem.

I still am a great admirer of Yushchenko’s, even with all his warts (sorry) and I believe that his election may some day be seen as one of the greatest events of this young century. His problems will no doubt be pounced upon by the Russian media (which often seems very similar to our own) and those in Ukraine who are skeptical because of his history as Kuchma’s Prime Minister. It seems, though that the majority of Ukrainian voters are willing to give him more than a third of a year to fix all the country’s ills. Revolutionaries sometime have trouble making the transition to governance. With the swiftness of the Orange Revolution came a hope of a swift fix. But the people of Ukraine have fresh memories of Kuchma and know what Yushchenko is an what he is not.

Anyway, he still has Yulia.