Ukraine 'a new nation forged from resistance'

Tens of thousands of opposition supporters sang and danced in noisy celebrations after Ukraine’s Parliament adopted electoral and constitutional changes they hope will pave the way for a fair ballot in a repeat of the disputed presidential election.

As thousands of protesters in downtown Kiev chanted, ”Well done! Well done!” opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko praised them yesterday for 17 days of round-the-clock demonstrations against electoral fraud, declaring that a new nation was forged from the resistance.

Yushchenko supporters – many of them haggard and shivering after surrounding Ukraine’s Parliament and other official buildings in downtown Kiev for two weeks - vowed to maintain their blockades.

“We won’t lift the blockade until Yushchenko settles here,” said Mykola Motruk, who has led a cordon of the presidential administration with about 50 others. As he spoke his men sang songs and danced in circle, raising fingers in V-sign.

Yushchenko said that massive peaceful protests, dubbed the ”Orange Revolution” for his ubiquitous campaign colour, had achieved their main goals by cancelling the fraud-tainted victory of his Kremlin-backed rival in the November 21 presidential runoff and by pressing home legal changes to avert the rerun from being rigged.

Yushchenko urged his supporters to focus on campaigning for his December 26 repeat contest against Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, urging demonstrators to join local election commissions and become ballot monitors.

In his speech to supporters on the square, Yushchenko thanked police and military for not resorting to force against the protesters.

He also pledged to maintain warm relations with all neighbours, including Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has staunchly backed Yanukovych and congratulated him on winning the November 21 vote while the opposition and the West charged fraud.

Yushchenko emerged from the 17-day political crisis a winner, succeeding in pressing home his demand for a rerun without having his supporters resort to violence.

But outgoing President Leonid Kuchma, who backed Yanukovych, can also claim victory because he succeeded in cutting the powers of his successor.

Yesterday’s surprise vote in Parliament endorsed a compromise package that called for electoral reform in exchange for a reduction in presidential powers.

Under the changes, the president no longer has the power to appoint his own government, but keeps the right to reject Parliamentary nominees for the top three positions – prime minister, foreign minister and defence minister. Parliament also earns the right to appoint all other Cabinet positions without presidential approval.