Ukrainians celebrate Orange Revolution

CROWDS of Ukrainians waving orange flags descended on Kiev’s main square yesterday for anniversary celebrations marking the start of the Orange Revolution.

President Viktor Yushchenko, marking the first anniversary of the revolution that helped bring him to power, said yesterday that Ukrainians should be proud of the past year’s accomplishments and they should be patient while reforms continue.

“There is no disappointment here,” Mr Yushchenko said.

The euphoria that followed the one-time opposition figure’s dramatic rise to the presidency has been followed by wide dissatisfaction with slower-than-desired reforms and infighting in his government.

Mr Yushchenko took office in January after winning a court-ordered new election following disputed balloting that brought hundreds of thousands of his supporters into downtown Kiev for weeks of protest.

“Ukraine, maybe, has lived through the happiest year in its history,” Mr Yushchenko said, acknowledging that nostalgia was running high, especially yesterday.

Thousands descended on Independence Square on Tuesday to mark the anniversary, many waving orange flags and wearing orange scarves.

Mr Yushchenko insisted that tasks remaining to be done, such as judicial reform and eliminating corruption, were to solve problems he inherited.

One issue that continues to haunt the president is the breakup of the Orange Revolution partners, particularly his fallout with the popular politician, Yulia Tymoshenko, who has moved into the opposition since Mr Yushchenko fired her as prime minister in September.

“It was a turning point in the life of the nation,” said Dasha Lysenko, a 17-year- old student who spent two months in the opposition tent camps last year.

“We stood on the square not for politicians but for the ideals, for freedom.”

Last November, millions jammed Kiev’s streets to protest against election fraud in the bitter election. They chanted “Yu-shchen-ko!” and set up a sprawling tent camp, bringing life in the city of more than two million people to a halt.

A repeat runoff ordered by the Supreme Court ultimately resulted in Mr Yushchenko’s election.