In Ukraine's presidential election, a field of more than 20 has been whittled down to
the final two.
Many say there is little to pick between the two candidates, a feeling repeated in the
polls. Both are accused of being little more than boring civil servants. However, the direction
the two candidates look in for their lead, and the direction they will take Ukraine in,
are poles apart. This election is key for the people of Ukraine.
Current Prime Minister Viktor Janukowic is the hot favourite. He hails from the Russian
east of the country and has the air of a traditional Soviet functionary.
His campaign office deluges the TV stations with instructions to broadcast daily updates
on the things he does for the country. He has increased pensions and expressed personal
concern over the harvest.
His opponent, Viktor Jucenko is from the other, western, end of the Ukraine, closer to Europe.
Janukowic once made a public appearance in this area, only to be plastered with eggs.
Before succumbing to a mystery illness, the former Prime Minister made strong calls for
an opening of the country towards the west, towards free-market economy and towards democracy.
In the middle of his election campaign, Jucenko fell sick and displayed odd symptoms of having
been poisoned. After lengthy treatment in Vienna he returned to hit the campaign trail.
Spin doctors were quick to lay claim to a political assassination attempt, hoping to
garner sympathy from the voters. But the national media almost completely ignored the claim,
leaving Jucenko's rallies the only place where the story could prosper.
His supporters expect a great deal from Jucenko.
Before succumbing to a mystery illness the former Prime Minister made strong calls of an opening of the country...
...towards the West, towards free market economy and towards democracy.
"We have finally managed to shake off our soviet past. We are a democratic country,
a free country. We have a free press that would be crushed in an instant in Moscow.
On Channel 5 we have a very anti-government programme, Moscow doesn't have that. In Russia
there is just Putin's dictatorship, here there is such strong opposition it is impossible
to say who will win."
Too true; the next incumbent into Kiev's Marienpalace, is still an open debate. Snap polls and surveys
show little between the candidates.
Ukraine's last president Leonid Kutchma did everything in his power to pave the path for
Janukowic to follow on as his successor. Moscow has made it clear it would also prefer the
malleable beauraucrat from the east of the Ukraine, yet whether Moscow's plans for Janukowic
to win the election will succeed or fail remains uncertain.
"Now that the country is recovering economically, we need to consolidate democracy here, too.
The country is in an economic upturn, we overcame the crisis. The standard of living is getting
better, but we still have no democracy. What we have now is still a mixture of new and
old Soviet functionaries. We must breakaway from this, away from this patriarchical Russian-Byzantine
system, and on to more democratic forms."
Orchards dominate the Ukrainian landscape. Although no longer the 'bread basket of Europe'
it once was, agriculture is still a dominant economic force here. With the decline of the
USSR went the decline of collective farming and production ground to a halt. Today, the
buying and selling of agricultural land is still outlawed.
Growing land now has to be leased, like this 900 hectare orchard, leased for 40 years.
These kinds of orchards produce fruit and fruit-juice for export to Russia. With 12
per cent economic growth this year, the fruit industry here is the fastest growing in Europe.
But despite such rapid improvement, the EU still refuses to classify the Ukraine as a
free-market economy because of differing state price regulations.
"What we need here is a clear and stable legal position. The law on land and agriculture
is constantly being hijacked. On the 1st of January 2005, a new agricultural law should
come into effect, but it's just been put back a further 2 years. Such instability makes
it impossible for us to invest. But whatever way the election goes will be good, because
both candidates are interested in the positive economic development of the country."
Ivano-Frankovsk is the most affected province. There, the population speaks predominantly
Ukrainian and Juschtschenko has a clear majority. Writer Juri Andurchovic lives in this region,
which was named after the Habsburg Gauls. His website features a tool that allows him
to communicate with his colleagues in Kiev Krakow, Lemberg and Cernowic. He has little
time for the stereotypes of a divide between the East and West.
It's not a division between east and west, but rather between civil and uncivil society.
Juri Andruchowitsch is an author and wrote an eminent paper, in German, entitled "The
Last Territory." Like most intellectuals of the country he's rooting for the pro-Western
candidate Viktor Juschtschenko:
Whether a modernising power - represented by Janukovic - can be elected without any
resistance, is still open to debate. The election campaign was unfair and extremely dirty. At
least there is an alternative to the powerful Jucenko. On the 31 October, the people themselves
decide