Democratic Breakthroughs and Revolutions in Five Post-Communist ...

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8authoritarian consolidation. Prior to the elections there were scandals and crises ofvarying types in Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia, Georgia and Ukraine. The use of violence,kidnapping, and murder against citizens led to growing protests and a desire to thwartthe further consolidation of an authoritarian regime by the incumbent in Slovakia,Serbia and Ukraine. In Croatia, the Tudjman regime had been involved in ethniccleansing of Serbs and other war crimes during the war of independence. In Serbia,the Milosevic regime had lost three nationalist wars in Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovinaand Kosovo after committing untold war crimes. Serbia’s intervention in Kosovo in1999 led to NATO’s bombing campaign, a prelude to the democratic revolution a yearlater under the opposition slogan ‘Gotov Je’ (He is Finished).In Georgia, Shevardnadze’s decade in office had led to stagnation with a largepart of the economy pushed underground where it established ties with organisedcrime. Two frozen conflicts in South Ossetia and Abkhazia had been ignored andAjaria had been granted de facto autonomy in exchange for political loyalty toShevardnadze. In Ukraine it was to be the Kuchmagate crisis, when a tape wasreleased showing President Kuchma having authorised violence against oppositionjournalist Heorhiy Gongadze, that became the precursor to the Orange Revolution. 8The Kuchmagate crisis of 2000-2001 did not lead to Kuchma’s downfall, but it didmobilize a large opposition movement in the Ukraine Without Kuchma and AriseUkraine! protests in 2000-2003. The opposition - Our Ukraine, Tymoshenko Bloc,Socialists – won the 2002 elections and went on as the Orange coalition to win the2004 elections. The 2002 elections were symbolically important in the Communistslosing their first place as Ukraine’s main opposition force. The Kuchmagate crisisseverely undermined the legitimacy of the ruling elites, discredited Kuchma, created ahard core group of activists and awakened young people from their political apathy.
9Many of the activists from the Kuchmagate crisis went on to play key roles in the2002 and 2004 election campaigns of the opposition and strategic roles in the OrangeRevolution.Democratic Capitol CityCompetitive authoritarian regimes do not completely marginalise thedemocratic opposition, unlike in authoritarian systems. In the pre-democraticbreakthrough era, the democratic opposition will have had the ability to be elected tolocal governments, to control Mayors and to have seats in parliament. These localinstitutional bases of support become important springboards for launchingdemocratic challenges to competitive authoritarian incumbents in Slovakia, Croatia,Serbia, Georgia and Ukraine. The National Movement-Democratic Front (EM-DP)won the Tbilisi City council in June 2002 after Shevardnadze’s For a New Georgiafailed to win a single seat. EM-DP leader Saakashvili became Mayor of Tbilisi Citycouncil. In the 2002 elections, the For a United Ukraine bloc and Social Democraticunited Party (SDPUo) failed to win large numbers of seats in Kyiv city council.Kyiv’s Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko had long been sympathetic to Yushchenko andhad blocked one of the three oligarchic clans, the SDPUo, from establishing Kyiv asits base, the only oligarch party unable to establish a home base. Kyivites have votedsince 1994 for reformers and the opposition. In the 1994 elections, Kyiv voted forLeonid Kravchuk, not Kuchma, and in 2004 for Yushchenko, not Yanukovych. Thecity of Kyiv is a bastion of support for opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko.During the Orange Revolution this mayoral, political and civic sympathyplayed an important role in providing infra structure for the protestors. The cityauthorities did not order security forces to forcibly remove protestors who blocked
Page 1 and 2: Democratic Breakthroughs and Revolu
Page 3 and 4: 3divided into four themes, the new
Page 5 and 6: 5The presence of competitive author
Page 7: 7Ukraine where the Orange Revolutio
Page 11 and 12: 11seeking to concentrate power, sta
Page 13 and 14: 13The pro-Kuchma ruling elites divi
Page 15 and 16: 15break down fear. Yanukovych prove
Page 17 and 18: 17the oppositions attempts at creat
Page 19 and 20: 19democratic opposition promoted an
Page 21 and 22: 21break into eastern Ukraine. Ukrai
Page 23 and 24: 23Dealing with the previous regime
Page 25 and 26: 25Divisions in the Democratic Oppos
Page 27 and 28: 27popularity of former Prime Minist
Page 29 and 30: 29command popular support. The Radi
Page 31 and 32: 31greater sense of freedom and a st
Page 33 and 34: 33been cleaned up. Freedom House’
Page 35 and 36: 352000 democratic breakthrough that
Page 37 and 38: 37BibliographyButora, Martin, ‘Ok
Page 39: 392006.23 Paul D’Anieri, ‘Ethni

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