Ukraine: The Orange Revolution

2004

In November 2004, there were widespread reports from domestic and international election monitors that the presidential run-off vote in Ukraine between Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych was fraudulent. Claims were made that corrupt electoral authorities had rigged the voting in favour of Mr. Yanukovych, intimidating voters and falsifying results.

Protests against the results made full use of modern technology. Members of Pora and Maidan, two pro-democracy groups, initially convened online to share information and ideas, before moving actions from the web to text messaging so as to communicate with more people. The nature of the internet as a medium meant that the government was unable to shut down all the protests. More and more Ukrainians began sending text messages to friends, encouraging them to come out onto the streets and protest. Over the course of two and a half weeks, millions endured harsh cold and sleet to take part in nationwide civil disobedience, sit-ins and general strikes. The crowd was particularly inspired by speeches given by Yulia Tymoshenko, who was to become the next Ukrainian Prime Minister.

The nationwide protests succeeded when the results of the original run-off were annulled, and a revote was ordered by Ukraine's Supreme Court for 26 December 2004. Under intense scrutiny by domestic and international observers, the second run-off was declared to be ?fair and free.? The final results showed a clear victory for Yushchenko, who received about 52% of the vote, compared to Yanukovych's 44%. Yushchenko was declared the official winner and inaugurated on 23 January 2005.