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Viktor Yushchenko addresses supporters in Kharkiv on Nov. 13 (AP Photo/Anatoly Medzyk, Pool) 
Leonid Kuchma, left, Russian President Vladimir Putin (centre) and Prime Minister and presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev) |
Updated Thu. Nov. 25 2004 9:51 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
The political struggle in Ukraine is over both political power and the future direction of the country of 48.1 million.
Larger in geographic size than France, Ukraine has some of Europe's richest farmland. It is a poor country, with 29 per cent of the population living below the poverty line, according to the CIA World Fact Book. However, a very few powerful and well-connected people live very well.
The two main political players are Viktor Yushchenko, the westward-looking, reformist-minded challenger for Ukraine's presidency, and Viktor Yanukovych, the current prime minister who would like to stay in Russia's orbit.
They are competing to replace Leonid Kuchma, Ukraine's second president who took power in 1994. He has stayed close to Russia but has made European Union membership a long-term objective.
Yushchenko
The 50-year-old is an accountant by profession. He emerged as a reformer in the governments of Kuchma.
Since Ukraine gained its independence with the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, Yushchenko had served as head of the country's national bank and was appointed prime minister in 1998.
However, Kuchma dismissed Yushchenko in 2001.
The liberal reformers and nationalists had been trying to recruit Yushchenko as their leader, but he remained loyal to Kuchma. Once he was dismissed, he became leader of Our Ukraine, a parliamentary bloc that gained enough support to seriously threaten the establishment.
Ukrainian politics have long been considered to be dirty, but the bar may have been raised this summer.
Yushchenko's supporters claim someone tried to poison him on Sept. 6. Before-and-after pictures show Yushchenko's face as considerably more weathered and pock-marked after the alleged poisoning. He was treated for the mysterious illness in Vienna, Austria.
It was first believed to be food poisoning, but Yushchenko's campaign officials said an examination found a "a viral infection and chemical substances that are not usually found in food products," according to a BBC report.
Over the course of the election, the establishment has tried to paint Yushchenko as an anti-Russian puppet of the West who is trying to start a civil war.
However, he hasn't used anti-Russian rhetoric during the campaign and maintains good relations with Russian liberals.
Yushchenko would like to see Ukraine join the European Union and possibly NATO. He has also promised to fight corruption and create jobs.
His geographic base of support is in the western half of the country, which is heavily ethnic Ukrainian (the east-west dividing line is the Dnieper River).
In the first round of presidential voting on Oct. 31, Yushchenko won a narrow majority.
International observers reported widespread voting problems with the run-off election held Nov. 21.
Hundreds of thousands of Yushchenko's supporters have massed in Kyiv's Independence Square to demand he be made president.
They would like to see an outcome similar to Georgia's "velvet revolution," where former president Eduard Shevardnadze stepped down in the face of mass protests, making way for a reformer to take power.
However, Kuchma has weathered such political storms before, such as when a popular journalist was murdered four years ago.
Yanukovych
Victor Yanukovych, the current prime minister, is the establishment candidate. He is backed by the same coalition that supports Kuchma.
While he had a troubled youth, Yanukovych went on to earn degrees in mechanical engineering and a PhD in economics.
His political rise was swift, becoming governor of the eastern Donetsk region, which is considered the most economically powerful part of Ukraine.
He was considered by some observers to have a hard-nosed, Soviet-like management style.
Yanukovych's first language is Russian, although he has taught himself Ukrainian.
His geographic base is eastern Ukraine, which has a sizable proportion of ethnic Russians.
During the campaign, he promised to increase wages and pensions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is clearly on Yanukovych's side. This is undoubtedly tied to Yanukovych's proposal to make Russian an official language and to stay within the Russian orbit.
He became the object of ridicule during the campaign when he was struck in the chest by an egg thrown by an opposition activist and fell moaning to the ground.
The presidency
Ukraine is a presidential republic. The president has the power to initiate legislation and to appoint (or dismiss) cabinet ministers and regional governors.
Reformists in Ukraine's parliament would like to see some presidential powers transferred to parliament -- a move opposed by conservatives.
In a deal to gain support, Yushchenko said he would agree to the transferring of some presidential powers.
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