Home > The Ukrainian Revolution- This is what democracy looks like
The Ukrainian Revolution- This is what democracy looks like
by Open-Publishing - Wednesday 8 December 2004Democracy Elections-Elected Europe
The Shift in Global Consciousness Begins
The following is a very inspiring article by a young Ukrainian.
Nice, timely report from someone on the spot....
As you likely know from the news, we are in the middle of the Orange
Revolution here in Kyiv. I can tell you that this is one of the most
incredible experiences of my entire life to be here during this
time.
We have been spending a lot of time on the streets and on the main
square - Maidan Nezalezhnosti Independence Square.
It is difficult to describe what is going on here. No news footage
on your TV screens can express the feeling you get being surrounded
by a million people. The most amazing thing — which I believe will
have worldwide sociological implications for a long time to come —
is how incredible this crowd is. When you think of a crowd unhappy
about something, being cheated by politicians, betrayed by the
system - you expect a bunch of angry, agitated people. Well, think
again. This is the happiest, friendliest, most incredibly loving
and supportive group of people I have ever encountered.
People are smiling, singing, laughing and offering help and support
to each other. You don’t see any police anywhere, not a single
policeman in sight - imagine that. According to the mayor’s office
in the city of Kyiv - there are no reports of any crime in this
huge metropolitan area. Crime has stopped! Everyone is a friend,
everyone is a neighbor, everyone is a brother. I do not know how
long this can last, but we are in the middle of some kind of
miracle.
It is cold out there. Most nights the temperature gets well below
zero Centigrade (which is in the teens for those of you that only
know Fahrenheit). But the tent city that was built in the middle of
Kyiv and now has hundreds if not thousands of tents is very warm
indeed. There are mountains of warm clothes everywhere on
Khreshchatyk (the main street of the city), which were donated by
Kyivites. Food, hot coffee, hot tea are abundant and free
everywhere. But you do not see any alcohol - this is the most sober
one million Ukrainians you will ever meet. The crowd is completely
self-organizing and improving its collective behavior continuously.
Every new day brings new elements of better organization, improved
conditions, improved communications and general functionality...
It has become clear to any observer that this crowd is bound to win.
There is absolutely no way to stop this crowd without a massive
blood bath, which is almost impossible to imagine to take place in
the center of Europe, with all the world’s TV cameras [present].
Over the last 5 days, the opposition has been winning continuous
victories every single day.
The score for the first five rounds is clearly 5-0. The crowds are
growing and demonstrations are now taking place all over the
country. More and more famous athletes, actors, artists, high-
ranking military and police officers are joining the opposition.
When Ruslana, the most famous Ukrainian singer, and heavyweight
champion Vladimir Klitchko joined Victor Yushchenko on the podium,
the crowd went wild. The following day brought Leh Valensa, senior
officers of SBU (former KGB) and Police, several formerly
neutral "oligarchs" and finally a major breakthrough at the end of
the day - the rebirth of free media in Ukraine.
Prior to that, only Channel 5 was broadcasting 24 hours a day
directly from Maidan and giving complete coverage to all the events.
And of course, our Volia Cable was proudly delivering its signal to
some 1.5 million viewers in Kyiv despite all the pressure on them,
including several horrible days in July when some of our key
managers had to spend 10 days in jail. One other channel (Era) was
doing the same, but only a few hours a day.
All major channels had previously been completely ignoring the
millions of people on the streets, never reporting it and instead
showing cartoons, classical music concerts and exotic travel
destinations.
We knew that most journalists from the major channels had either
been fired by then or had gone on strike because they refused to
continue broadcasting lies. As a result, all news programs on
National channels 1 and 2, Inter, 1+1, Noviy, and others simply
ceased any and all operations. For 3 days in a row, most of Ukraine,
which only has access to the major channels, had no TV news.
Imagine that - the very day after a major election - no news for
three days, no morning news, no evening news, no news at all! All
these channels simply had no creative staff left to produce bogus
news. All fired or on strike.
Thursday night it all changed. The management and owners of all of
the major channels gave in to the demands of their striking
journalists and allowed honest news reporting for the first time in
the history of independent Ukraine. Some of the channels like
National Channel 1 and 1+1 began their evening news broadcast on
Thursday with a group shot of all journalists standing together and
one of them reading a statement from the creative staff in which
they swore to report honest news and honest news only!
This was one of the most unbelievable sights I have ever seen. And
then the miracle happened - they showed a direct feed of a million
proud Ukrainians on Maidan in Kyiv to the whole country. If there
are defining moments in the birth of a Nation, that was certainly
one! I am so proud to be able to witness it with my own eyes, in
spite of all the tears that covered them at that moment.
Today was another exciting day with the extraordinary session of the
Ukrainian Rada currently ongoing. It started over four hours ago and
is being shown live on a number of TV channels all over the country
and also to people on the streets. We are all glued to the
television screens. The Rada already voted to consider the runoff
elections invalid, express non-confidence in the Central Election
Committee and several other major items. They are still debating,
but are making good progress. Things are looking up! The Orange
Revolution continues!
Michael Bleyzer
Kyiv, Ukraine
November 27, 2004