Orange Revolution

The Orange Revolution in Ukraine in the latter part of 2004 consists of a series of protests and other events and actions related to allegations of massive corruption in the government which was then led by the former President, Yanukovich. In the website of Wikipedia, it is declared that the main trigger for these protest actions was the result of the run-off elections held on November 11, 2004. Yanukovich was declared the winner of those elections whereas the sentiments of the people centered on the belief that the true winner of those elections was Viktor Yushchenko.
The Ukrainian citizens went to the streets of Kiev in the form of daily marches, strikes and protests which led the government declared the results of the November 11, 2004 election was void, and ordered a second election took place on December 26, 2004. After, Yushchenko was declared winner of the second election, and took his oath of office as the President of the Ukraine in January of that year.
Series of protesting were called the Orange Revolution by the protesters, and Yushchenko wore the orange colored uniform to symbolize their solidarity in the fight against an old, corrupt regime.
Ukraine, even after the fall of the Soviet Republic in 1991, seemed to be a carry-over regime from the communist style government. There have been many allegations of corruption in government. The corrupt practices of the Soviets continued up until the fall of communism.
It is predictable that the transition from an old form of government to a democracy would not be easy. However, in this case, the transition to a democracy was done in a very peaceful environment because there was no effort to disrupt any protests by using violent.
Another issue was that some countries, like United States did some work in Ukraine which came in the form of sponsoring the rallies and the protests during the revolution. In the December 21, 2004 issue of the Washington Post, there have been allegations that the White House did all it could do to weaken the Russian power and their influence in Ukraine. It is not hidden that Yanukovich had strong relations to Russia’s leader Putin, as the Russians saw Ukraine as their way to Black Sea because they were able to purchase imports from Ukraine too. Therefore, giving aid in the Orange Revolution would lessen the influence of Russia, and strengthen the imperialism idea of the US. It would seem as the Post WWII Cold War is not really over.
It has been found to be based on empirical evidence are the facts that the US provided assistance in the form of civil society support, as they believed that this would help influence political move in Ukraine. Therefore the evolution of democracy in the Ukraine is not a result of American foreign policy, but it was the result of a firm and real desire of the Ukrainian people for social and political change.
A democracy is a government for the people where no single person can take control of the government. Since the old government in Ukraine still had ideas from the old communist regime, the people wanted to totally get rid of the old style government. In todays globalize world, new ideas and thoughts easily flow from one part of the world to another. Therefore, it was expected that change would be easily seen in Ukraine. No matter how much interfering there was from other countries, if the people themselves did not want to change, then there would have been no one on the streets to protest, willing to change in their government.
Therefore it is normal that when people are pushed to desperation we are willing for change. It helped a lot when Viktor Yushchenko was poisoned with dioxin, which resulted in a total change in his features as well as in a serious illness during campaign. This affected the emotions of people who then wanted to take this to the streets to express their needs. Yushchenko became the symbol of courage that drove its people to participate even at the risk of losing their lives. Therefore it is clear that a true democracy comes from the hearts of people, and no violence, even death can change people’s minds once they have decided firmly on these issues.
The Orange Revolution showed that one is still responsible for what happens in their life. The want for freedom of expression and speech was mainly to bring a better quality of life and living standard. The unity that the Ukrainian people showed during these times can be seen as an example of what one can do and accomplish their goals. It is in the natural order of the world that chaos usually leads to lasting peace and order.