I'm watching Savik Shuster's Svoboda Slova show: Karmazin, who for some reason ran on his own and, naturally, failed to get in, is having a serious fight with Davydovych, current head of the Central Election Commission. All politicians gathered in the studio today are not satisfied with the results of the count (most of them, if not all), and Davydovych is lucky to be watching it and communicating with his opponents from afar - he'd end up getting his ass kicked if he were in the studio.
Karmazin and Davydovych were talking at the same time, and I really don't understand what their point was.
Inna Bogoslovskaya claims a great number of sacks stuffed with ballots have been found dumped away in a few cities. Davydovych says a few sacks that indeed have been found somewhere contained local elections ballots, not the Rada ones.
Friday, March 31, 2006
I found the remains of this sticker on a park bench today:
The face is Serhiy Kivalov's - aka Kidalov, pidrahui! - and the text says he has to be in jail. Signed by Pora (not sure which one, the party or the movement.)
He's in parliament now, however, or will soon be there, as he is #27 on the Party of the Regions' list.
Obviously, this is one of the reasons I didn't vote for Yushchenko's Our Ukraine Bloc in this election.
The face is Serhiy Kivalov's - aka Kidalov, pidrahui! - and the text says he has to be in jail. Signed by Pora (not sure which one, the party or the movement.)
He's in parliament now, however, or will soon be there, as he is #27 on the Party of the Regions' list.
Obviously, this is one of the reasons I didn't vote for Yushchenko's Our Ukraine Bloc in this election.
For those who read Ukrainian, here's a hilarious explanation of the voters' choices.
It's not really Ukrainian all the time, actually: the guy often switches into a kind of phonetical spelling that imitates both bad Ukrainian and bad Russian, and sometimes he's writing in that special lingo in which such words as roblyat' and lyublyat' are intentionally misspelled (letter 'd' replaces 't') and express the author's attitude to the actions described, as well as the original meaning.
Anyway, to read it, you need to be familiar with the two languages and other Ukrainian realities. But it's hilarious.
It's not really Ukrainian all the time, actually: the guy often switches into a kind of phonetical spelling that imitates both bad Ukrainian and bad Russian, and sometimes he's writing in that special lingo in which such words as roblyat' and lyublyat' are intentionally misspelled (letter 'd' replaces 't') and express the author's attitude to the actions described, as well as the original meaning.
Anyway, to read it, you need to be familiar with the two languages and other Ukrainian realities. But it's hilarious.
Photos from Ivanovo Orphanage here and here.
A group of wonderful Muscovites visited this orphanage on March 19 (not for the first time) and delivered toys, clothes, medicines, juices, etc.
Lots of info (in Russian) on how to help Russian orphanages is here, at the site called Dobrodel.ru.
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An excerpt from the Q & A section of Dobrodel.ru:
A group of wonderful Muscovites visited this orphanage on March 19 (not for the first time) and delivered toys, clothes, medicines, juices, etc.
Lots of info (in Russian) on how to help Russian orphanages is here, at the site called Dobrodel.ru.
***
An excerpt from the Q & A section of Dobrodel.ru:
I don't have much money - can I donate only 50 rubles [less than $2]?
For 50 rubles, it's possible to buy 10 pairs of socks, or 14 soap bars, or 5 bottles of kids' shampoo... Is this not a lot?
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Turns out Moroz hasn't signed the coalition memorandum yet, despite what Mykola Rudkovsky said yesterday. He's waiting, just like the rest of them.
Yaroslav Davydovych is also waiting - he hasn't had a single contact with the press today, nor have his colleagues.
99.99% of the votes have been counted; Vitrenko's still lagging behind, thank God.
She's demanding a recount, and so do Viche, Pora-PRP, NDP and Lytvyn's Bloc.
Yulia held a press conference today - looked very alert, serious and decisive, with very little of her usual girliness. She also has some complaints about the fairness of the election and the count - but she spoke more about forming the coalition.
Rinat Akhmetov held a press conference, too, today, and sounded like a fool: he joked he'd head a committee on fighting organized crime in the new parliament.
Chernovetsky looked tipsy as he toured the Kyiv City Council building today. It's painful to watch him, now that he's almost our mayor - every time he speaks, I keep catching my breath, awaiting yet another fluff, like what he said to and about the City Council journalists the other day. Getting used to him will take some time.
Yaroslav Davydovych is also waiting - he hasn't had a single contact with the press today, nor have his colleagues.
99.99% of the votes have been counted; Vitrenko's still lagging behind, thank God.
She's demanding a recount, and so do Viche, Pora-PRP, NDP and Lytvyn's Bloc.
Yulia held a press conference today - looked very alert, serious and decisive, with very little of her usual girliness. She also has some complaints about the fairness of the election and the count - but she spoke more about forming the coalition.
Rinat Akhmetov held a press conference, too, today, and sounded like a fool: he joked he'd head a committee on fighting organized crime in the new parliament.
Chernovetsky looked tipsy as he toured the Kyiv City Council building today. It's painful to watch him, now that he's almost our mayor - every time he speaks, I keep catching my breath, awaiting yet another fluff, like what he said to and about the City Council journalists the other day. Getting used to him will take some time.
Leonid Chernovetsky, our "potential mayor" (as Ukrainska Pravda calls him), started his campaign a while ago by setting up a dining hall and other free services for the poor. He seems like a jerk otherwise, and his unexpected victory resembles that of Hamas a lot (thanks for the analogy, mama): while everyone's busy with abstract talk, waste of paper and large-scale stealing, he chose to spend a little bit of his money on something many people would be really grateful for - and won.
My Belarus posts at Global Voices, yesterday and today.
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LJ user litota_ posts photos from a flash mob that took place at Oktyabrskaya Sq. in Minsk yesterday: to protest the lies of Belarusian state TV, a group of young people put scarves over their eyes and pretended to watch the news broadcast on a huge screen above.
***
19. People's Blog on Presidential Election reports (RUS) that Mariusz Maszkiewicz, former Polish ambassador to Belarus, has been moved from prison to a hospital, possibly for emergency treatment of a heart attack. Maszkiewicz was jailed for his participation in the March 25 protest rally in Minsk and subjected to harsh treatment.
***
Andrei Khrapavitski translates an entry by LJ user wolny on the mysterious public absense of the Belarusian president Aleksandr Lukashenko.
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br23 blog reports on how Vaclav Havel, former president of the Czech Republic, was denied entry by the Belarus Embassy in Prague when he wanted to deliver a letter of protest. The incident reminded him of 1979, when Tom Stoppard and Harold Pinter were protesting his own imprisonment, but were told to drop their letter of protest into the Czechoslovak Embassy's mailbox.
***
LJ user litota_ posts photos from a flash mob that took place at Oktyabrskaya Sq. in Minsk yesterday: to protest the lies of Belarusian state TV, a group of young people put scarves over their eyes and pretended to watch the news broadcast on a huge screen above.
***
19. People's Blog on Presidential Election reports (RUS) that Mariusz Maszkiewicz, former Polish ambassador to Belarus, has been moved from prison to a hospital, possibly for emergency treatment of a heart attack. Maszkiewicz was jailed for his participation in the March 25 protest rally in Minsk and subjected to harsh treatment.
***
Andrei Khrapavitski translates an entry by LJ user wolny on the mysterious public absense of the Belarusian president Aleksandr Lukashenko.
***
br23 blog reports on how Vaclav Havel, former president of the Czech Republic, was denied entry by the Belarus Embassy in Prague when he wanted to deliver a letter of protest. The incident reminded him of 1979, when Tom Stoppard and Harold Pinter were protesting his own imprisonment, but were told to drop their letter of protest into the Czechoslovak Embassy's mailbox.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
I don't feel like writing, but here's just one thing: I'm really tired of squeezing myself and Marta between cars parked on sidewalks. I take pictures of some of them now, to calm myself down.
The city's not ready for so many cars, and I don't really blame the drivers - even though I can't pretend I don't hate them. I wonder if the new mayor (Chernovetsky, most likely) is planning to do something about it.
The city's not ready for so many cars, and I don't really blame the drivers - even though I can't pretend I don't hate them. I wonder if the new mayor (Chernovetsky, most likely) is planning to do something about it.
Abdymok posts some background info on Kyiv's new mayor:
deputy in second fatal auto accident
november 6, 2003
kyiv post
parliament deputy leonid chernovetsky was behind the wheel of a mercedes that struck and killed a pedestrian late nov. 2, his press secretary has confirmed.
the man killed is the second pedestrian killed by a mercedes linked to the kyiv-area deputy and honorary president of pravex-bank on the same stretch of road in less than seven months.
the unian news service reported that the latest fatality occurred at about 11 p.m. on nov. 2 on stolychne shose, where another mercedes registered to pravex bank struck and killed 10-year-old maksym prokopchuk last april 15.
the driver of the car that killed prokopchuk abandoned the vehicle and fled the scene of the accident. no charges have been filed in the boy’s death.
[...]
kateryna shapoval, chernovetsky’s press secretary, told the post on nov. 4 that the deputy had not been arrested in the latest death, but confirmed that chernovytsky was driving the automobile when the accident occurred.
“chernovetsky called the police himself,” shapoval said.
she said that the mercedes involved in the latest accident was not the same vehicle that struck and killed prokopchuk.
in both deaths, chernovytsky’s representatives have attempted to place responsibility on the victims.
in prokopchuk’s death last april, pravex-bank spokeswoman tetyana salnikova said that the accident was not the driver’s fault.
“[it] was an accident caused by the carelessness of the victim,” she said.
prokopchuk, a fifth grade student, was killed within 100 meters of kyiv school no. 151 in a clearly marked pedestrian crossing at about 9:20 p.m. a traffic signal at the crossing was not working at the time, however. [...]
Here're my Global Voices entries on Belarus from today and yesterday.
***
Rush-Mush links to a LiveJournal translation of the diary of Dasha Kostenko, a Minsk protester who has recently been sentenced to ten days in jail.
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LJ user kapitan_tanaka translates a letter written by Valyantsina Palyavikova and Larysa Bukholenka, two female prisoners who were jailed for their participation in the post-election protest in Minsk.
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German-language Media-Ocean switches into English to write about a short video from a polling station in Belarus, which conveys repressive atmosphere during the count and shows how one observer, despite being barred from the table with stacks of bulletins on it, catches a violation that could've benefited Aleksandr Lukashenko, the acting president. The transcript's English-language translations are here.
***
Tobias Ljungvall sums up last week's events in Belarus and makes some forecasts.
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Ivan Lenin of Rush-Mush translates a post by a Belarusian LJ user on the injuries incurred on the protesters in Minsk during the March 25 rally.
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br23 blog writes about Belarus' KGB posing as the US embassy and beating an opposition activist unconscious.
***
Rush-Mush links to a LiveJournal translation of the diary of Dasha Kostenko, a Minsk protester who has recently been sentenced to ten days in jail.
***
LJ user kapitan_tanaka translates a letter written by Valyantsina Palyavikova and Larysa Bukholenka, two female prisoners who were jailed for their participation in the post-election protest in Minsk.
***
German-language Media-Ocean switches into English to write about a short video from a polling station in Belarus, which conveys repressive atmosphere during the count and shows how one observer, despite being barred from the table with stacks of bulletins on it, catches a violation that could've benefited Aleksandr Lukashenko, the acting president. The transcript's English-language translations are here.
***
Tobias Ljungvall sums up last week's events in Belarus and makes some forecasts.
***
Ivan Lenin of Rush-Mush translates a post by a Belarusian LJ user on the injuries incurred on the protesters in Minsk during the March 25 rally.
***
br23 blog writes about Belarus' KGB posing as the US embassy and beating an opposition activist unconscious.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
How interesting: Lukashenko's inauguration has been postponed, but it's not clear till when. It was supposed to take place this coming Thursday, March 30 (via Gazeta.ru, in Russian). (Update: no, it was supposed to be Friday, March 31; don't know what got into me when I was writing that. Also, I've read that he appeared on TV later today and demanded that public officials remove his portraits from their offices - "a small photo would be enough," he said.)
These photos are from a reader who was in Minsk last week. The whole set is also posted on Flickr - here - and you may choose an option there to view the photos in their original size.
"These people were frozen. They had spent the night holding hands, locking arms, swaying, dancing and sometimes singing along softly to Viktor Tsoi cds. The building behind them is where the election commission announced Lukashenko's official victory, and where Lukashenko gave his confrontational press conference on March 20. The sign in the front row says 'Freedom'."
"Milinkevich addresses the tent camp. One of the signs behind him was a little chilling, or funny, depending on your mood when you look at it. He is a brave man."
"This was Kazulin at the gate of the pre-trial detention center in Minsk, where he was meeting with the friends and families of the protesters detained on October Square last Friday. The next day he was arrested himself."
"Family and friends flash victory signs in support of the detained demonstrators as they are moved from the pre-trial center. The detained initially flashed back the victory sign and smiled, but then instantly fell silent as a group, and looked straight ahead, as if their guards had given them a sharp warning."
"One young woman was arrested while standing outside an internet cafe near October Square on Monday, as the tent camp was formed. She was released after three days, and returned on Friday to the prison walls to hand out letters from other detainees she had taken out when released."
"By Thursday night on October Square, the opposition's sense of confidence, and public displays of support for it, was starting to grow. The crowd was larger that night, and more cars honked as they drove past. The police always tried to pull over cars for honking, and in this case, as they got the driver to the curb, people rushed from the sidewalk and crowded around the GAIshnik, shouting him down. The GAIshnik let the driver go. There was a small sense that the opposition's determination was spreading, and that it was able to influence the police. A few hours later the tent camp was smashed."
"A member of the spetsnaz that cleared October Square early Friday. This guy was on the perimeter about 50 yards away, part of a line assigned to keep the foreign journalists at that distance until the demonstrators were loaded onto the trucks. State TV was of course allowed in to film the events among the police. It seemed they held the foreign press away just long enough to plant 'evidence,' including pornography, drugs, syringes and alcohol. The 'evidence' of the demonstrators' debauchery became a prominent part of state news TV coverage."
"The commander of an Interior Ministry Spetsnaz passes a young man they have just trampled and beaten as they rushed and cleared the sidewalks on Independence Avenue. This was a few hours before the worst violence, but during the escalation. Generally, the police were not interested in arresting people in the first hours. They mostly just whacked them and chased them away."
"These people were frozen. They had spent the night holding hands, locking arms, swaying, dancing and sometimes singing along softly to Viktor Tsoi cds. The building behind them is where the election commission announced Lukashenko's official victory, and where Lukashenko gave his confrontational press conference on March 20. The sign in the front row says 'Freedom'."
"Milinkevich addresses the tent camp. One of the signs behind him was a little chilling, or funny, depending on your mood when you look at it. He is a brave man."
"This was Kazulin at the gate of the pre-trial detention center in Minsk, where he was meeting with the friends and families of the protesters detained on October Square last Friday. The next day he was arrested himself."
"Family and friends flash victory signs in support of the detained demonstrators as they are moved from the pre-trial center. The detained initially flashed back the victory sign and smiled, but then instantly fell silent as a group, and looked straight ahead, as if their guards had given them a sharp warning."
"One young woman was arrested while standing outside an internet cafe near October Square on Monday, as the tent camp was formed. She was released after three days, and returned on Friday to the prison walls to hand out letters from other detainees she had taken out when released."
"By Thursday night on October Square, the opposition's sense of confidence, and public displays of support for it, was starting to grow. The crowd was larger that night, and more cars honked as they drove past. The police always tried to pull over cars for honking, and in this case, as they got the driver to the curb, people rushed from the sidewalk and crowded around the GAIshnik, shouting him down. The GAIshnik let the driver go. There was a small sense that the opposition's determination was spreading, and that it was able to influence the police. A few hours later the tent camp was smashed."
"A member of the spetsnaz that cleared October Square early Friday. This guy was on the perimeter about 50 yards away, part of a line assigned to keep the foreign journalists at that distance until the demonstrators were loaded onto the trucks. State TV was of course allowed in to film the events among the police. It seemed they held the foreign press away just long enough to plant 'evidence,' including pornography, drugs, syringes and alcohol. The 'evidence' of the demonstrators' debauchery became a prominent part of state news TV coverage."
"The commander of an Interior Ministry Spetsnaz passes a young man they have just trampled and beaten as they rushed and cleared the sidewalks on Independence Avenue. This was a few hours before the worst violence, but during the escalation. Generally, the police were not interested in arresting people in the first hours. They mostly just whacked them and chased them away."
Here's Mishah's reply to one of the commenters - it's too good to be banished to the comments box.
nona,
52% is about the same that Yusch got on the presidential election. Even slightly bigger. I don't see how he gets more with current state of things. If you sum up all the orange votes at 63.08% you get even less than 52. So the split is about the same as it was during the presidential election.
This country wasn't, isn't and won't be divided East-West. because Chernigiv, Poltava and Sumy are neither West nor Center of the country. This division is more accurately described as division by the borders of Kievan Rus. even Malorossia+Galychyna vs. Novorossia seems closer. You may also call it the division at where ukrainians live and where non-ukrainians live. Not in ethnical sense of course.
As a voter of Pora I don't care if part of my vote goes to Yanyk. This country is divided. Since Yusch did not let them go during the revolution, did not grant autonomy to this Novorossia or PiSUAR thing, the only I guess remaining way to form a new ukrainian nation that will include people of Donetsk or Odessa is to dogovoritsa with them. If coalition between NU and RoU is needed so let it be. Even though this RoU consist of and is headed by thieves and former and future criminals - so let it be. Almost half of my fellow citizens voted freely for thieves and criminals being fully aware of that. We did not let them form their own state or joint their beloved Russia, now we have to live with them. So our children won't use terms "us" and "them".
I see two main reasons of Pora-PRP's (and Klitchko) defeat. First is the campaign. Their maxim percentage might be 6-8 of young self-reliable center-right liberals disappointed with the leaders of the revolution, not the revolution itself. The thing that only by announcing themselves running for the Rada they got 1.8% rating within a week was a sign of a very good potential. Their campaign unfortunately was done like they are aiming at least 15% of very wide range of voters. Use of "TAK!" and even orange was a mistake because it was same as saying "there's no difference between us and NU so why vote for us". I'm not even sure if they needed Klitchko. The second problem was the lines at the polling stations. While standing there, I've seen a lot of "young self-reliable center-right liberals" leaving because of these lines. The only line most of them could bare to stand is the line at the passport control in Boryspil.
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