With the final votes being counted in Ukraine’s parliamentary elections, early results show an unsurprisingly strong showing for the country’s oligarchs, while neo-Nazi candidates score significant victories of their own.
Though the democratic character of the elections is certainly in doubt, the inescapable reality is that the new government in Kiev is going to be even more aggressive, even more radical, and even more dangerous, as the political character of the Verkohvna Rada (Ukraine’s parliament) becomes ever more reactionary. Not only will this development have negative repercussions for the people of Donetsk and Lugansk, as they likely will now be facing a renewed assault from a belligerent government looking to assert itself before the eyes of the Ukrainian electorate, it will also further entrench the anti-Russian posture of Kiev, which will now have to contend with even more right wing pressure to eschew negotiations and pragmatism with Russia, in favor of a destructive and unwinnable strategy of continued antagonism and provocation.
In examining closely some of the election’s higher profile winners, one sees a disconcerting trend that goes far beyond simply neo-Nazi ideology; this election has legitimized the rule of criminal oligarchs and the factions and private armies they control, while also entrenching violent, and quite often criminal, individuals and tendencies within the newly constituted government. In effect, the fascist fanatics of Maidan now have a new home in the Rada.
Tallying the Votes, Assessing the Damage
Although the final vote count has yet to be made official, preliminary results show that the two dominant factions and leaders within the Ukrainian government, President Poroshenko and his bloc and Arseniy Yatsenyuk and his “People’s Front,” both handpicked by the United States, each garnered roughly 21 percent of the vote, making them the clear winners in the election. Of course, it is clear that the losers are the people of Ukraine, many of whom demonstrated on Maidan against the corruption of an oligarch-controlled government, only to watch new, “pro-Western” corrupt oligarchs usurp control of the country with the backing of powerful Western interests.
As for the neo-Nazi elements, well they too will have an important place in the Rada. While a number of Western journalists have hailed the election as concrete proof that the neo-Nazi label is merely “Russian propaganda” and “fear-mongering”, the reality is that roughly 15-20 percent of the seats in the Rada will be controlled by the fascist forces of Oleh Lyashko (Radical Party) and Oleh Tyahnybok (Svoboda Party), not to mention the Fatherland Party of corrupt oligarch and quasi-fascist Yulia Tymoshenko. In addition, the criminal leader of the Nazi Right Sector organization, Dmitry Yarosh, has been elected to represent the Dnepropetrovsk region in Kiev. Dnepropetrovsk it should be remembered has been transformed from a region of Ukraine into the personal fiefdom of the oligarch Igor Kolomoisky. In effect then, Yarosh, whose Right Sector has at various times acted as a de facto private army for Kolomoisky, becomes the representative of the Kolomoisky power bloc in Kiev, effectively marrying neo-Nazi ideology with oligarch wealth and influence.
Complete story at - Ukraine’s Thieves and Nazis: From ‘Russian Propaganda’ to Parliament | New Eastern Outlook
Though the democratic character of the elections is certainly in doubt, the inescapable reality is that the new government in Kiev is going to be even more aggressive, even more radical, and even more dangerous, as the political character of the Verkohvna Rada (Ukraine’s parliament) becomes ever more reactionary. Not only will this development have negative repercussions for the people of Donetsk and Lugansk, as they likely will now be facing a renewed assault from a belligerent government looking to assert itself before the eyes of the Ukrainian electorate, it will also further entrench the anti-Russian posture of Kiev, which will now have to contend with even more right wing pressure to eschew negotiations and pragmatism with Russia, in favor of a destructive and unwinnable strategy of continued antagonism and provocation.
In examining closely some of the election’s higher profile winners, one sees a disconcerting trend that goes far beyond simply neo-Nazi ideology; this election has legitimized the rule of criminal oligarchs and the factions and private armies they control, while also entrenching violent, and quite often criminal, individuals and tendencies within the newly constituted government. In effect, the fascist fanatics of Maidan now have a new home in the Rada.
Tallying the Votes, Assessing the Damage
Although the final vote count has yet to be made official, preliminary results show that the two dominant factions and leaders within the Ukrainian government, President Poroshenko and his bloc and Arseniy Yatsenyuk and his “People’s Front,” both handpicked by the United States, each garnered roughly 21 percent of the vote, making them the clear winners in the election. Of course, it is clear that the losers are the people of Ukraine, many of whom demonstrated on Maidan against the corruption of an oligarch-controlled government, only to watch new, “pro-Western” corrupt oligarchs usurp control of the country with the backing of powerful Western interests.
As for the neo-Nazi elements, well they too will have an important place in the Rada. While a number of Western journalists have hailed the election as concrete proof that the neo-Nazi label is merely “Russian propaganda” and “fear-mongering”, the reality is that roughly 15-20 percent of the seats in the Rada will be controlled by the fascist forces of Oleh Lyashko (Radical Party) and Oleh Tyahnybok (Svoboda Party), not to mention the Fatherland Party of corrupt oligarch and quasi-fascist Yulia Tymoshenko. In addition, the criminal leader of the Nazi Right Sector organization, Dmitry Yarosh, has been elected to represent the Dnepropetrovsk region in Kiev. Dnepropetrovsk it should be remembered has been transformed from a region of Ukraine into the personal fiefdom of the oligarch Igor Kolomoisky. In effect then, Yarosh, whose Right Sector has at various times acted as a de facto private army for Kolomoisky, becomes the representative of the Kolomoisky power bloc in Kiev, effectively marrying neo-Nazi ideology with oligarch wealth and influence.
Complete story at - Ukraine’s Thieves and Nazis: From ‘Russian Propaganda’ to Parliament | New Eastern Outlook
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