Democrats lose to Reds

Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU) leader Petro Symonenko at a post-election press conference attributed his victory to the voters alienation from the current authorities. At another press conference Popular Movement of Ukraine (Rukh) leader Vyacheslav Chornovil admitted that national democrats had taken a drubbing, which he attributed to the “socioeconomic situation in the country, disunity of the democrats themselves, and people being fed up by the policies of the President and his coterie. Chornovil also pointed out that the decision not to allow the Crimean Tatars to vote was a blow that cost his party 80,000 votes in the Crimea, reports Interfax Ukraine.

With final results not yet in nobody is ready to give a breakdown of just how the new Verkhovna Rada will be divided up and just how strong a block the Communists will be. At his conference, Symonenko mentioned that some CPU positions are similar to those of Pavlo Lazarenko’s Hromada group, raising the interesting possibility that the Reds might forsake their erstwhile Socialist allies and throw in with the former Prime Minister.

The Communists want to change the Constitution to “liquidate” the Presidency, increase the authority of the Cabinet of Ministers, and make that body strictly accountable to Parliament. On the opposite side of the aisle, Chornovil vows that Rukh will not allow radical changes to the Constitution and will seek coalition allies in hopes of denying the Left control.